Sith of Another Time
by Dylan Millwood
Summary: Adopted with the permission of LoveAndWar1337 and follows TRUE (aka pre-disney) cannon. Raised in darkness, betrayed by his own order, and cast through time to an era where clones and droids clash and the Sith Empire is no more, what's a Sith to do? Rage and revenge against his betrayers, of course! Even if it means siding with Jedi...
1. Chapter 1

_**Book One: The Return**_

 _ **Chapter 1: Sith Asleep**_

 _"Peace is a lie, there is only passion._  
 _Through passion, I gain strength._  
 _Through strength, I gain power._  
 _Through power, I gain victory._  
 _Through victory, my chains are broken._  
 _The Force shall free me."_

 _―The Sith Code_

Three-thousand six-hundred and fifty-three years before the legendary battle of Yavin, the Jedi and republic with the undisputed most powerful forces in the galaxy. They had grown in power since the believed fall of the Sith oh so many years ago. Then came the fateful day when the Sith Empire attacked. Marked as one of the darkest days in Jedi history, the Sith Empire didn't just defeat them but destroyed their prized temple and nearly killed them all. Leading the charge of the Sacking of the Jedi Temple was Darth Malgus, a Sith Lord who had proven himself far superior to the average Sith.

Now what many didn't know was that Malgus actually took on an apprentice soon after he killed his own master, such is the way of the Sith, but he didn't just choose anyone. No, Malgus wanted someone just as strong as he was, just as hateful as he was, and just as skilled as he was. The powerful Sith Lord went through a hundred potential apprentices before finally settling on one, one who far surpassed any of the others. This boy had been taken from his home planet, which had been taken over by the Sith, and had proven himself to be very capable in the Sith arts.

Becoming Malgus's apprentice at the age of ten, this boy trained every day, soaking himself in every single aspect of the Dark Side, and emerged a powerful Sith Warrior. At the age of sixteen, Malgus and his apprentice were chosen to lean the assault on the Jedi Temple, a way for Malgus to regain his honor. This mere boy was once named Uzumaki Naruto but gave up that name once he gained the title of Dark Lord. Once that day had come he became known as Darth Strakh.

(Day of the Sacking of Coruscant)

Walking towards the famed Jedi Temple were three distinct figures, two of which were male while the third was a female Twi'lek. Clearly not Jedi, given their black robes and the aura of pure hatred that glowed off of them, the three figures slowly ascended the steps of the temple, only to be met by several blasters being pointed at them. Without even lifting so much as a finger, the second hooded figure reached out with the force and began to strangle the soldiers with it, even going as far as to lift them all up into the air a few feet. With nothing but a simple gesture, the lead figure motioned for his other companion to go up to the bounty hunter that was watching them from above.

Walking over to one of the walls the figure just seemed to walk up it like he was walking on flat ground. Once at the top, he nodded to the female bounty hunter and they both entered the Jedi Temple through one of the larger vents. It didn't take long for them to reach one of the secluded hallways, which had three guards right by it. Once again reaching out with the force, the Sith killed them all by simply crushing their necks. Meanwhile the bounty hunter checked her map and saw a shuttle inbound in less than twenty seconds.

"It's time," said the bounty hunter, her helmet distorting her voice ever so slightly, while the Sith beside her nodded and lowered his hood.

Like most Sith, his skin was pale and he had a red tattoo of the outter ring of the Sith Quad-Sun symbol frame his left eye, which was blue while his right eye was the taletell luminous, sulfuric yellow of those who had immersed in the Dark Side of the Force. His wild, spiky blond hair stood up all over like the spines of a sea urchin was held in a low ponytail, and on each cheek were a trio of pencil-thin grooves that resembled whisker marks. Under his black cloak was advanced Sith armor with a total of three lightsabers attached to the left side of his belt. Covering his hands were a pair of clawed metallic gauntlets that could stand up to a lightsaber blade long enough for him to retaliate if necessary. He was Uzumaki Naruto and he was Sith!

"Good, we don't want to be late to the party," there was some humor in his voice but it was cruel, just like he was taught to be.

"After you boss," and with that said, both bounty hunter and Sith made their way to the upper levels, since most of the Jedi went to greet his master on the ground floor.

Moments later, a Republic shuttle slammed in through the large doors to the temple, taking out several large pillars before coming to a stop just a few feet from the hooded Malgus. Naruto could feel the anticipation of every single Sith on that shuttle, feeding off of it to fuel his own growing power, just before all hell broke loose. Within only a matter of seconds, the once peaceful Jedi Temple turned into the hell known as a battle field. Many fell, on both sides, within the first five minutes just from the amount of blaster fire and the collision of the two forces.

Reaching for his first lightsaber, taking the smooth chrome hilt into his hands, Naruto felt the Dark Side course through his body, making his heart beat faster than normal and for his senses to become razor sharp. Leaping down to the battle below, crushing one Jedi as he landed, Naruto activated his weapon. Instead of a normal straight crimson blade, which all the Sith seemed to be using. A several meter long lightwhip came to life and began to burn the ground that it touched, almost demanding to be used by its master.

With a loud roar, Naruto spun the whip, bringing it to life, before wrapping it tightly around a single Jedi and pulling as hard as he could. Unlike other light whips, Naruto modified his own to be almost as strong as a normal lightsaber, which meant that the unfortunate Jedi was not nothing more than a pile of burnt flesh on the ground. Spinning around, Naruto's weapon lashed out like a coiled viper and instantly removed the head of another Jedi, who had been attempting to sneak up on him.

High above Naruto, using her sniper rifle, the bounty hunter began to pick off unsuspecting Jedi, since none of them even bothered to actually look up. A small hiss of energy and another Jedi was no more, although her attention was drawn to the lightwhip-wielding Sith that she had been hired by. Personally she didn't care about most Sith, seeing as they were all doom and gloom, even if they did pay well, but that guy wasn't all about trampling over others to steal their power. The main reason Malgus was even still alive, given that Naruto had plenty of chances to kill him, was simply that Naruto wouldn't kill weak people.

"And there goes Jedi number six," she almost laughed, how many other bounty hunters had six Jedi kills under their belt?

Through her modified scope, the bounty hunter covered Naruto as he carved his way through the Jedi, his lightwhip keeping them from getting close while her own shots killed them if they did get too close. With all this chaos, none of the Jedi saw Naruto coming until it was too late, that is until one of them managed to Force Push him right into a wall, nearly making him go through it. Pulling himself from the wall, Naruto found a female Twi'lek pointing her lightsaber at him, apparently wanting to duel him.

"Alright Jedi, I'll fight you," said Naruto, deactivating his lightwhip, placing it back on his belt, before pulling out an actual lightsaber.

Leaping at the Jedi, with enough force to crack the ground when he jumped, Naruto activated the lightsaber in midair and slammed it into the Jedi's blue lightsaber. There weren't many who could face Naruto in a duel, Malgus made sure of that, but the Twi'lek sure was using her flexibility and speed to her advantage. Instead of meeting his attacks head on, the Jedi dodged them or simple glanced them away, but Naruto didn't let up for even a second. The fight around them soon become nothing more that noise, neither of them paying any attention to it. Even when all of the other main battles had been finished, they continued their duel.

At one point another Sith tried to step in, only for Naruto to snap his neck with the Force. So they all decided to watch, even Malgus, as the two highly skilled Jedi and Sith fought each other. Feeding off the chaos that was consuming the entire planet, Naruto continued to press his attack, although a few misses had actually caused him to hit the ground and actually pierce down to the floor below.

"How long do you think you can keep this up, Jedi?" asked Naruto, locking blades with her, not noticing how the floor around them had weakened from all the damage it had sustained.

"Long enough to defeat you," she answered, no sign of anger or any other emotion that Naruto could use to his advantage.

Then the ground gave way beneath their feet and they fell to the floor below, causing the surrounding Sith to rush over to the hole and see if either of them were still alive. Apparently the power generators had been destroyed because all they could see were the glows of the two lightsabers moving around in the darkness. It was hard enough to fight normally, trying to anticipate your opponents movements, but it was even harder fighting in the dark, not even being able to see your opponent.

Down below, where neither of them could see even two feet in front of them, both Jedi and Sith continued their fight, using the glow of their lightsabers to guess where their opponent was. Naruto, finding it of no use to keep his eyes open in the darkness, closed his eyes and focused on his other senses, trying to get a feel for the Twi'lek.

 _'Where are you?'_ Naruto thought to himself, only to feel the searing pain of a lightsaber suddenly grazing his left arm, making him lash out in that direction, only to his nothing.

"You won't be able to fight me down here Sith, I know every inch of this room while you stumble around in the dark," said the Jedi, her voice seeming to come from every direction so Naruto couldn't get a fix on her location.

"A Sith fights their best in the dark because the shadows serve only the Sith," responded Naruto, feeling something warm near the back of his neck and ducked down just before a blue lightsaber could take off his head.

 _'He dodged?'_ the Jedi thought, surprised that he was even capable of doing so in the dark, but her train of thought was cut short when Naruto's lightsaber grazed her side, although she managed to jump back before it could do any real harm.

 _'So I can't see her, I can't hear her, I can't sense her with the Force? I looks like I'll have to go with touch then,'_ Naruto thought, standing completely still and waited for the next attack.

When it came, Naruto was ready. Blocking the Jedi's lightsaber with his own red one, Naruto's free hand lashed out and grabbed the woman by her neck, actually lifting her completely off the ground. Now wanting to risk getting hit by the lightsaber, the Sith then threw her against what he guessed was a door, which broke the moment it was hit. Bright light shone in through the broken door, apparently leading to a second courtyard that was completely empty.

"You're skilled for a Jedi, just a step or two behind myself," Naruto complimented, walking out into the light while the rest of the planet was being attacked in the background.

"And you're rather honorable for a Sith," the Twi'lek responded, lifting herself off the ground, only to find her lightsaber missing, no doubt having been thrown over the edge and to the chaos below.

Without even a second thought, Naruto deactivated his own lightsaber before casually throwing it to the Jedi, who caught it and gave him a questioning look. Naruto simply ignored the look she was giving him and pulled out his third lightsaber, this time the blade was purple in color but with a hint of blackness to it. Both of them took a ready stance, unaware of Malgus watching them from above, before charging at each other.

Naruto was the first to swing, sliding down onto one knee while attempting to slice the woman in half, only for the Jedi to flip over the blade. Both Sith and Jedi turned around at lightning fast speeds, their lightsabers clashing before their bodies were fully turned, sending sparks everywhere. Naruto's brute strenght far surpassed the Twi'lek's own and he overpowered her in a matter of seconds, but not before she kicked his feet out from under him. When Naruto's back hit the ground, he was forced to immediately bring up his lightsaber to block the Jedi's downward slash, which would have no doubt killed him.

"Getting tired, Jedi?" asked Naruto, seeing how the Jedi's chest was rising and falling slightly faster than normal.

"Not even slightly!" the distraction had been enough for Naruto to send the woman flying back with a force-push and allowed him to get back to his feet.

Naruto ignored the pain in his left arm, mainly where the Jedi actually managed to hit him, and instead let in fuel him, pushing his body to its limits. He could feel it, the fight was taking its toll on the Jedi, although she hid it very well. The wound he gave her back in that room as made her movements with that arm slow and not as powerful.

They sprung at each other again, the Jedi doing her best to dance around Naruto's attacks. One mistake was all it took to injure her right leg and all but end the duel. Falling down to one knee, the Twi'lek found a purple blade just inches from her face but the blond haired Sith just continued to stare at her, his chest moving up and down while his heart pounded against it.

"You fought well Jedi, I'm honored to have faced someone as powerful as you," said Naruto, his lightsaber deactivating before he knelt down in front of her and took back his other lightsaber.

The blond haired Sith then proceeded to turn around and simply walk away, leaving the injured Jedi right there. Malgus already knew how his apprentice thought and understood why he spared this single Jedi. It wasn't out of mercy but out of greed, he wanted the Jedi to grow stronger so that, the next time they met, he could have an even more exciting fight. If there was one thing Naruto loved almost as much as life itself, it was a good fight against someone strong enough to match him. Malgus didn't like this way of thinking but hardly any could meet Naruto's standards, besides they still had a war to fight.

"Why would you spare me and not the others?" the Jedi asked, making Naruto pause just before the door.

"You have heart, Jedi. You don't fight simply because you are a Jedi but also because you truly wish to protect others. You deserve to live...for now," and with that said, Naruto was gone.

(Hours later: Capital Imperial ship)

Naruto currently found himself staring down at the burning planet below, the sacking was still in progress but he had no interest in joining it at the moment. He silently wondered if that Twi'lek had managed to get off world or if some Imperial found her and killed her. Banishing those thoughts from his mind, Naruto turned to face his approaching master.

"Master," Naruto greeted, not bothering to bow when Malgus had said he no longer needed to.

"You did well today, my apprentice, especially against such a highly trained Jedi master," said Malgus, but Naruto knew those words were only meant for Naruto to let his guard down.

"Tell me, why did you spare her life?" Naruto had seen this coming from a light-year away.

"You know why, master; if you're here to punish me, then best to just get it over with," the blond haired Sith wasn't in the mood for any games, even if stating so would cause him more pain.

"You've been called back to Korriban. The Dark Council seems to have taken an interest in you and insists that you leave at once. This will be the last time we speak to one another," it wasn't kind or even pleasant, but Malgus never was any of those things.

Naruto didn't say anything else, he simply left for the hanger where his own personal ship was fueled and waiting. His ship was a Fury-Class Imperial Interceptor with a cloaking device and a little extra fire power, for those bad days. The ship had been a gift from Malgus after Naruto killed his first Jedi in battle, nearly losing his head in the process. Sure it might be a little big for one Sith but Naruto didn't mind all that much.

It only took a few minutes to prep the ship before he took off into space and began his trip back to Korriban, a place he hadn't been in many years. Setting the ship to pilot itself, Naruto retreated into his room and sat down on his bed, closing his eyes to meditate. While most Sith would meditate on their anger or fear, which were most common in everyday life, Naruto focused on all of his emotions, not just the negative ones. No one knew he was doing this, because positive emotions were seen as weak emotions, but it gave Naruto a sense of clarity. The Force spoke to him more often and he could better understand what it was trying to show him.

 _"What is your name Sith?"_ a voice spoke to Naruto through a vision.

 _"You've been charged with the murder of citizens of the Republic! Your sentence is death!" another voice said but it was hateful, hidden by neutrality._

 _"You're no longer a Sith, you're my friend and a friend to the Jedi,"_ Naruto couldn't see who was speaking in the vision but could hear them clear as day.

 _"You are **not** a Sith! You are a Jedi pretending to be a Sith! The true Sith are more powerful than you could possibly imagine, and I'm the strongest!"_

Naruto was suddenly ripped out of his meditation by his ship suddenly shaking, as if being it by an asteroid or something. Quickly running up to the cockpit, the blond haired Sith checked the scanners, showing something that made his mismatched eyes widen. Chasing him through space was a large Imperial battle cruiser and it was currently firing at Naruto with everything it had. The scanners picked up incoming fighters, but that didn't stop Naruto from activating the automated weapon systems while taking control of the ship.

"Dammit, flying is for droids!" Naruto yelled as another blast his his ship's shields, nearly taking them down.

With a small grown, he hit a switch and channeled power from his weapons into his shields and engines. There was no way he would be able to take on a battle cruiser, even if he managed to somehow land on the damn thing, and thought it best to try and outrun them. Naruto didn't know why they were attacking him, although he was flattered that they sent a battle cruiser after him, but he couldn't think about that at the moment. Then the sound of his proximity sensors going off made him swear. When his hyperspace engine had been shut of, which he didn't know how that was possible, it had dropped him right next to a damn black hole and that was the last thing he needed!

"Warning the gravity field of the black hole will trap this ship in five-point-four seconds, have a nice day."

Everything went black for Naruto, he felt out of sight and mind. For a moment he even thought he was dead, until he heard those damn alarms going off again. Slightly glad that the black hole hadn't apparently trapped him, Naruto wondered why his ship was even still in one piece, not that he was complaining.

"Attention unidentified ship, this is the Republic Star-Destroyer Resolute, you are in restricted Republic space. Prepared to be boarded."


	2. Chapter 2

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 2: The Return of the Sith**

 _"The war in which we fought, and in which many of our followers died, could have been prevented. It was the Jedi who took up arms to keep us from revealing the truth about the Force. They had been paddling in the shallows for eons. By boldly venturing into the Force's expanse, we gained powers that no Jedi had ever possessed. Life itself was at our command!"_

 _-Sorzus Syn_

When Anakin Skywalker got the distress call from Jedi master Aayla Secura, he would have never expected for an unknown ship to just appear out of thin air. What was even more disturbing wasn't that it seemed to be ancient, just from the design, but because of the amount of Dark Side energy that was contained inside of it. Even at such a great distance, which was betting shorter because they planned on docking with the ship, Anakin felt like he was being smothered by the evil that just seemed to radiate from the ship. Every fiber of his being screamed at him to just destroy the ship, which he nearly did, but for some reason he chose not to.

Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's newly appointed apprentice, had much less training in resisting the Dark Side and had returned to her room, in the hopes of getting away from it. If it was this disturbing for Anakin then he could only imagine what it was like for the young girl. Still, with the ship now attached to the bottom of his cruiser, plus a squad of troopers heading down there, Anakin ordered them to resume they re entered hyperspace, Anakin ordered several guards to meet him at the airlock, with their weapons set to kill. Once the young Skywalker arrived at the airlocked, his troops already preparing to face an unknown threat that had their general on edge, Anakin gave the order to open the ship.

For some reason, Anakin thought a monster would suddenly charge them from the darkness of the ship, yet everything was as silent as the grave. The only noticeable sound was the boots of his men hitting the metal plating of the ground, but that only seemed to put Anakin even more on edge. Everything about this ship was just wrong, the hallways seemed to curve in and give off the feeling that one was being cornered on all sides. The feel of the dark side was far more potent than even Dooku's demented aura and Anakin felt as if he was being watched at this very moment. It was only when a clone accidently kicked something that Anakin activated his lightsaber, out of pure survival instinct.

"Um, my bad," the clone said, sounding a little sheepish while Anakin sent him a mild glare, before deactivating his lightsaber and placing it back on his belt.

"Alright men, looks like it's just a ghost ship, lets get ready for the fight we have ahead of us," Anakin ordered, despite every bone in his body telling him that he should just destroy this ship and get as far away from it as humanly possible.

What none of them noticed was Naruto's cloaked form actually walk out of the ship the moment that they had boarded it. He cloaked himself deep within the confines of the force, hiding himself from other force users and the sight of all others. To them he was nothing more than a ghost, an image that one quickly forgot after a mere second, and this suited him fine. As he glided through the ship, Naruto found that this ship was thousands of years more advanced than anything the Sith or Republic had ever created. There were also clones, which were still being developed, walking around by the hundreds. How could the Republic hide such a thing when the Sith had spies in every branch of their military and government? Well it didn't really matter at this point, the fact of the matter was that the Sith tried to have him killed and he was now aboard an enemy ship. Naruto felt that the only way to get answers was to allow the Force to guide him. Perhaps the Force had brought him here for a reason?

After only a few minutes of traveling in hyperspace, the ship seemed to appear right in the middle of the battle. The ships fighting the nearly-destroyed Republic cruiser were unfamiliar to Naruto. There were barely any lifeforms aboard the three mystery ships and yet the Force was calling Naruto to the burning Republic cruiser. As the battle raged on, Naruto could sense the two Jedi leave the ship, no doubt headed right for their fighting comrades below. Without even thinking twice, Naruto jumped out of the airlock and began to freefall his way down the the falling cruiser. As Naruto drew closer to his destination, he drew on the Force to enhance the durability of his body to protect him from the head of reentering the atmosphere.

 _'It's been a long time since I've tried something as reckless as this, perhaps I should have just gone back to my ship,'_ Naruto thought to himself just before he hit the surface of the ship, slamming into it with enough force to make the metal beneath him give out.

Beneath him was a droid, having been crushed under the weight of Naruto's impact, and behind that droid was many others. Their forms switched from bulky to thin, yet the priming of their weapons was the only reason Naruto needed to turn his violet and crimson blades upon them. With almost inhuman ferocity, Naruto's two blades of deadly energy carved through six of the nearest metal soldiers. The hot plasma cut through their hardened armor as if it had been nothing more than air and the color of the sun was the only thing left in the blade's wake, having heated the metal to an insane degree. Then bolts of red energy were fired at the young Sith, but his body was honed to the point that it reacted on its own. Spinning so fast that the glow of his lightsabers blocked his body from view, Naruto deflected each and every bolt back where they came from with savage aggression.

Within the span of only one minute, the entire hallway was cleared of hostiles and only Naruto was left standing. Satisfied with his work, Naruto took off towards where he heard the most fighting and where he also felt the presence of now three Jedi. The ship shook violently as explosions racked both inside and outside its burning body. Naruto could feel the familiar sensation of life being extinguished, with the natural Force of their bodies being let back out into the galaxy. Rounding the corner, Naruto found himself standing behind a squad of the larger gray droids, just as the doors opened to reveal the very Jedi he had been looking for.

"Run!" Naruto yelled, from his position behind the droids, before he began to carve his way through the clunky metal men.

Just like the last group, these incompetent droids fell into bits and pieces, leaving them as little more than scrap metal. Sadly, it seemed that the Jedi had remained rooted it place, having completely ignored his order to get to the ship now docking under the ship.

"Are you all stupid?! This ship is going down in flames and you stand around like lost children!" Naruto barked at them as he ran past them and towards where the other ship was docking, just as another explosion threatened to rip the damaged ship right in half.

"Let's move," the Twi'lek Jedi ordered before they all ran after the Sith, although they didn't know he was one at the time.

Reaching the docking area, Naruto had already opened the door by the time they had arrived, and was patiently waiting for them to arrive. Just before they got onto the ship, another explosion rocked them back and forth, but this one was different. Even from this distance, Naruto could feel the heat of the inferno that was currently racing to consume them. With an angry shout, the young Sith used the Force to throw them all onto the ship before he followed them. Once the blast door was closed, Naruto focused on the very fire itself. With all his might, Naruto fought the explosion as it raced towards them, forcing the metal doors to hold when they would have buckled long ago. As the explosion lost its vigor, Naruto felt the smaller ship he was on shake with enough force to nearly knock him off balance.

"We have to get out of here before one of these ships actually crashes into us dead on," Anakin advised as he and his fellows stood in the cockpit of this transport ship.

"Sir, three rockets incoming!" yelled the pilot as they roughly turned the ship, in an attempt to dodge the rockets racing towards them, only for one of the rockets to slam right into their deflector shields.

The sudden surge of energy was enough to kill both pilots and, by mistake, set their ship to go into hyperspace. Before any sort of warning could be given to one of their cruisers, which were still in battle, they were blasted off into the stars. Naruto walked into the cockpit and was greeted by the sight of everyone trying to cut the hyperdrive before they crashed into a quickly approaching star.

"Dammit, it's no use, the navigational computer is completely fried!" yelled the only clone with his helmet off, which Naruto noticed had a large amount of gold paint to decorate the almost completely white armor.

"Then turn off the main power to reset the navigation." Naruto suggested and, given the circumstances, no one was in much of a position to argue.

"Alright, everyone get ready because this is going to be close!" yelled Anakin from the pilot's seat as the Twi'lek Jedi moved over to where the main off switch was.

Once the power was off, everyone experienced the terrifying feeling of nearly crashing right into a sun, which even made Naruto hold his breath in anticipation. They managed to get the power back on just in time to miss the sun, but now they were headed right for a planet. Their speed continued to increase, no matter how much the Jedi tried to slow the ship down, until they began to breach the planets atmosphere. The familiar heat of reentry soon washed over all of them, a sign of their approaching doom. Yet, at what seemed to be the last possible second, the engines flared with power and managed to level the ship out enough so it wouldn't be destroyed upon impact.

The moment that the ship hit the ground, all of the windows shattered in billions of sharp fragments, parts of the ship itself caved in, and most of the people standing were thrown forwards with an insane amount of force. Naruto must have hit his head on something, or something hit his head, because his vision couldn't seem to focus and he felt like he did after the first day of his former master's training. With shaky arms, the young Sith slowly sat up into a kneeling position and found fire and twisted metal all around him.

"Hey, hey buddy, can you hear me?" asked the clone with a blue colored design on his armor, as the man knelt down in front of Naruto in an attempt to get his attention.

"I take it we survived?" Naruto questioned as he attempted to get up, only to fall back down with a sharp hiss exiting his lips.

"Yeah, but we need to get out of here before this whole ship explodes!" the Clone urged, putting Naruto's arm over his shoulder and helped the blond warrior to his feet, wanting to get the hell out of there before they got fried in the imminent explosion.

Luck seemed to be on their side because the ship only exploded mere seconds after Naruto and the clone soldier dove out of the burning wreck. If it wasn't for the fight at the Jedi Temple, fighting some unknown factions that used droids, and being in a crashing ship, then Naruto would have stayed away. Sadly the day's events finally caught up with the young Sith and he embraced the ever calming darkness.

"Rex, is this guy alright?" asked Anakin as he limped over to where his captain was watching over the downed Sith.

"I think so, looks like he just passed out from exhaustion...can't say I blame him." Rex summed up as he got to his feet, his blaster still in hand, and joined his fellow clone in watching the perimeter for any enemy activity, or activity in general.

"Skywalker, do you know this man?" asked Aayla as she examined the armored Sith, mainly noticing the three different lightsabers that he had attacked to his belt.

"No, I thought he was with you on your ship," Anakin said in regards to the young man that didn't look much older than he was himself as Aayla took one of Naruto's lightsabers and ignited its blade, her eyes widening when she saw its crimson glow and the noticeable feeling of the Dark side radiating off of it.

"He's a Sith?" asked Ahsoka Tano, her hand instinctively reaching for the lightsaber on her hip while Anakin's eyes narrowed dangerously at the helpless blond Sith.

"Whoever he is, he did help us escape and didn't seem to be on the side of the Separatists. As far as we know, he could simply be a former Jedi or could have just found these lightsabers," Aayla explained, reminding them that they were Jedi first and what being a Jedi actually entails.

"Generals, we should get some shelter set up before it gets dark," said Commander Bly, pointing out that they would have a hard enough time surviving the night with sheltered let alone without one.

"Alright, Ahsoka and I will scout the surrounding area for something to get a fire started while the three of you get started on a shelter." Anakin ordered before motioning his padawan to follow him into the waist high brush.

"Rex, make sure are unconscious guest is looked after, Commander Bly and I will get started on shelter," Aayla said before everyone went their own ways to do their own important jobs, unaware that they had a sleeping lion in their midst.

Several hours later, Naruto found himself in the company of three Jedi and two clones, with some type of animal slowly being cooked over a fire. With a low grunt, Naruto sat up from inside his metal tent, noticing that it was made from parts of the crashed ship, and limped towards the fire. There was a tense silence for a few seconds before Aayla motioned for Naruto to join them, although she never did let her guard down for even a second. As Rex handed the armored Sith a piece of meat, Naruto noticed his three lightsabers were resting with the Jedi, one attached to each of their belts. It was a clever tactic, to ensure that he couldn't get to all three of his blades at once and would be at a disadvantage if a fight broke out. Not bad, he'd admit.

"I see your head injury has healed, we were beginning to think damage had been done to your brain, and we are no where near a medical facility if that was the case," said Aayla, deciding it was best for her to break the tense silence, since she was the most level headed out of the group and less likely to jump to conclusions.

"So it would seem, yet I'm surprised that three Jedi would chose to save me," said Naruto, taking a slow bite of the meat, only to discover that the animal tasted like shit.

"Why wouldn't we? We are Jedi after all." said the padawan of the group, her narrowed blue eyes telling Naruto that she knew precisely what he was.

"I'm sure that the Jedi I've previously struck down would have done something else in your place." Naruto pointed out leisurely, only for Skywalker and his padawan to ignite their lightsabers and point them right at Naruto, who calmly took another bite of the disgusting meat.

"So you are Sith!" Ahsoka yelled, showing an unusual amount of anger for a Jedi, but such things always ended in Naruto's favor.

"Ironic, isn't it? Just yesterday I help destroy your temple, today you saved my life from an exploding ship. Now here you are trying to kill me. I really wish you lot would make up your mind." Naruto said with a bit of humor in his voice, which only seemed to make the two armed Jedi even more angry at him.

"Done," Anakin hissed before springing into action, thrusting his lightsaber right towards Naruto's heart, only for Ahsoka's green blade to suddenly stop her master's azure one as the young sith used the Force to manipulate her arm.

The shock shared between master and padawan was enough for Naruto quickly jump away from the group, while also managing to pull his red lightsaber from Ahsoka's belt. With impressive reflexes, the two clones and Twi'lek Jedi had their weapons out and ready to be used, just as Naruto activated his own weapon. There was a pause again, a silent communication between the six of them that sealed all of their fates. In a blur of motion, the three Jedi charged Naruto as one while the two clones fired at him with their blasters, trying to conserve as much ammo as possible.

Blocking Anakin's lightsaber, Naruto took control of Ahsoka's arm again and forced her to block Aayla's two lightsabers. Aayla managed to jump over Ahsoka and came down on the Sith with both her glowing blades ready to pierce his chest. Yet Naruto saw this coming and was able to grab Skywalker by the front of his armor, and throw Aayla's fellow Jedi right into her. In fact, Aayla had to quickly deactivate her lightsabers to stop herself from killing Anakin instead.

"Frag out!" yelled Bly as he tossed a thermal detonator right at Naruto's feet, just Anakin and Ahsoka lifted up a sheet of metal to protect them from the blast.

Eyes widening at the explosive at his feet, Naruto pulled up a Force shield as quickly as he could, yet it wasn't enough to completely protect him from the blast. As fire and metal ripped through his invisible shield, the young Sith found himself being sent flying backwards by the shockwave of the blast. Naruto could hear his armor nearly breaking under the explosion's force, with the main chest plate being badly damaged, but the armor managed to do its job. Seeing their opponent caught off guard, the three Jedi charged Naruto from all directions, knowing that he couldn't block all of their attacks at once.

"Die!" Naruto roared, using his pain to fuel his force lightning while his lightsaber lashed out with so much bloodlust that it almost seemed to be alive.

With Aayla blocking the force lighting and Ahsoka blocking Naruto's lightsaber, Anakin went for the kill. With a Force enhanced leap, the young Skywalker fully intended to cut Naruto right in half, but Naruto wasn't a Sith warrior for nothing. Although not being able to completely dodged the downward strike, Naruto did manage to roll away just in time for the azure lightsaber to glance off his shoulder. Naruto felt the familiar warmth of a lightsaber grazing his skin, its hot plasma burning him like the fires of hell, and yet that pain only made him stronger.

Like an unstoppable force, Naruto charged forward and slammed himself right into Anakin's midsection, actually managing to lift the man off the ground before slamming him back down. Anakin let out a grunt of pain when his back hit the ground and again when he felt Naruto's armored fist connect with his face. The only thing that saved the young Skywalker, from more pain, is Rex and Bly unleashing several more blaster bolts in Naruto's direction. Grabbing the lightsaber attached to Anakin's belt, Naruto activated his purple bladed lightsaber and deflected all the bolts away with lightning speed. It was Aayla who sent out a Force push strong enough to push the Sith off of Anakin and send him flying into their ship's wreckage.

"Don't underestimate us!" Ahsoka yelled as Naruto slowly stepped out of the wreckage, the front of his armor almost completely gone but he didn't even look winded from the battle.

Naruto's response to the young padawan's proclamation was to simply dust off his armor with an annoyed look on his face. The blonde Sith's training with Malgus had proved to be more of a challenge, yet Naruto wasn't one to underestimate his opponents. Placing both lightsabers back onto his belt, Naruto picked up a large piece of the ship's separated thruster, with the Force of course, and threw it right at the Republic group. Yet they all managed to dive out of the way before it crushed them, although just barely.

"You Jedi are so predictable, faced with a Sith, you all but abandon your own code. There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force. Such a ridiculous code and one often broken. You lash out in anger when you realize I'm Sith. You renounce everything that doesn't agree with your ideology. You say your are peacekeepers, yet you wish to strike down any dark side user when it's because of the Jedi the Sith Order even exists! You're all hypocrites!" Naruto roared as he charged them again, only to stop when they all heard the familiar sound of several ships breaking through the planets atmosphere.

"Separatists, great, as if this day couldn't get any worse."


	3. Chapter 3

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 3: One of a Kind**

"Let the past not dictate who you shall be in the future."

-?

Elemental, the name of a planet long ago conquered by the Sith War machine, was home to a race of humans that possessed abilities that the Sith had never before seen. When first attempting to conquer the planet, the Sith armies fell prey to titanic beings with the power to reshape the very geography of the planet itself. The two most feared among them had their very legend carved into the stone itself. Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha had single handedly wiped out an entire invasion force with monstrous creatures made of wood and strange blue energy. At one time their two clans were mortal enemies, hell bent on destroying one another even if it meant they would be destroyed themselves, but a common enemy changed all of that. Soon enough, every clan on the planet was united in the single goal of preventing the Sith from taking their home.

Yet, much like all others that tried to resist the Sith, they were eventually broken by the Sith war machine. Learning from their mistakes, the Sith ordered that the planet be bombarded from orbit, and that all major population areas be vaporized. It happened so fast that the clans never even knew what hit them until red beams of death rained down upon them for an entire week without pause. The civilians were put in caves, to shield them from certain death, while plans were made for when the inevitable ground forces came for them. However, Madara and Hashirama fell during the first night of the raining death, giving their lives the shield their people as much as possible.

Without their strongest titans, it took the Sith thirty more years to finally break the people of Elemental. Their once expansive, population had been cut nearly in half, with most of the clans being wiped out completely. The Senju and Uchiha clans were wiped from the planet completely, having proven to be the most resistant of the many clans and the most dangerous. The Uzumaki clan was nearly wiped out but for a select few, their long lives and deep connection to the Force was something the Sith could mold with time.

Taken from their home, the young of the Uzumaki clan were taken to Korriban to become the first generation of Sith from their world. Their natural love for peace had caused most of them to die before graduating, but there was one who was able to make it through the trials of the Sith. Kushina Uzumaki had become one of many apprentices to a member of the Dark Council, her inner light slowly turning grey from so much of the dark side being around her. Yet, despite being practically drowned in the dark side, only one of her eyes had changed to that of the Sith yellow, while the other one remained its natural color.

It was one a mission, back on her home world, that Kushina's life was changed forever by a group of rebels that still resisted the Sith. It was a simple mission, she was to find and wipe out the rebellion and bring the leader's head back to her master. Yet it was on this very mission that she saw the power her people could wield, in the form of Minato Namikaze. Minato was the rebel leader, a young man with spiky yellow hair, bright blue eyes, slightly tan skin, and a strange amount of joy that seemed to just radiate off of him. Their first engagement ended in Kushina being captured for interrogation, having underestimated her people's chakra based power and Minato's own skills.

Their relationship began as them being enemies, acquaintances next, then barley allies, somewhat friends, good friends, a crush, and finally a romance after a year of Kushina being held captive. It was then that the light inside Kushina won out and she abandoned the Sith to help the rebels take back their home. Yet, on the night that the Sith finally found them, Kushina was giving birth to her one and only son. It was her master who led the attack and it was he who took the newborn child from the screaming woman. Kushina was killed the next morning, executed for betraying the Sith Empire, and her son was sent to Korriban as the only Uzumaki left in existence.

For years he was subjected to brutal training, battles to the death against other students, and was forced into the deepest parts of the Dark Side. He was taught to harness his wrath, to relish lust, to feed of other's envy, to break those of sloth, to use his opponents pride against them, to manipulate a glutton, and to use the greed of others to control them. So that's what Naruto did, his wrath was the cause of many deaths, the envy of others became the cornerstones which he built his castle, the sloth were used as bricks, the prideful for the workers, the glutton for the paint, the greedy for his wealth, and the slaves sated his lust for many nights.

That was when Darth Malgus came and turned Naruto's unstable castle into a fortress in which he would dominate all those weaker than him. Then again, it was because of all these events that Naruto found himself on a strange world, with three Jedi, and a faction of droids out for his blood. At first the Jedi sought to end him, not because he was Sith but because they believed him to be with this other faction, and Naruto had shown them the skill he had honed in bloody war. Now they watched with him as their shared enemy broke through the atmosphere of the backwater planet with ships large enough to carry a small army.

"Separatists, great, as if this day couldn't get any worse," Ahsoka Tano said, with no small amount of sarcasm in her voice, before she notice the Sith's eyes narrow ever so slightly at the incoming ships.

"Friends of yours?" Anakin asked, making sure his lightsaber was still ready to be used against Naruto, who simply shut off his own lightsabers and attached them to his belt.

"They're no friends of mine, I suggest we find a proper vantage point to escape their scouts," Naruto suggested, as if they hadn't all been in a life or death fight against him not a few moments ago, before simply beginning to walk towards a large tree off in the distance.

"Orders sirs?" Rex asked the two elder Jedi while he and Bly kept their blasters aimed at Naruto's retreating back.

"Are you going to have your soldiers shoot me in the back? I do wonder if a Jedi is capable of giving such a dishonorable order?" Naruto asked as he continued to walk further away, not bothered in the slightest that his possible death could be only a few words away.

"He does have a point, Skywalker; if he is truly not with the Separatists, then we stand a better chance fighting together than fighting one another, even if he is a Sith." said Aayla as she sheathed her own lightsabers and followed after the young Dark side user, even if she didn't like having to work with him.

"No good can come from working with a Sith..." Anakin said with an edge to his tone, trusting Naruto no more than he would trust Dooku but he was outvoted and outranked on the matter.

Despite trying to kill one another, the group traveled in relative peace and there was hardly any hostility in the air. It was when they nearly got caught by a group of marching droids that their plans changed from defensive to offensive. The droids' destination was a strange small village off in the distance, a village that were still using primitive tools to live their lives. If the droids attacked, then they would stand no chance. Naruto hated those who hid away and used an army to do their bidding. His own personal code demanded that this group's leader be crushed under his boot!

"Where do you think you're going, do you want to get us all killed?" Ahsoka hissed at Naruto, when he stood up from the tall grass and slowly began walking towards the flank of the small droid army.

"Then stay hidden, I will not sneak around when I have a chance to destroy my enemy." Naruto snarled back as he pulled out both his lightsabers and activated their red and purple blades.

Apparently hearing the sound of lightsabers activating, the small droid army turned around and instantly began firing their blasters at the young Sith warrior. Yet Naruto was hardly a rookie when it came to being outnumbered by enemies with blasters and the way he deflected each shot was proof of his skill. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, the Force stretched his senses to their max, and he became an immovable wall of light.

To most, this would be an impossible feat, to block as many opponents at once was a foolish risk, but that was only when dealing with organic enemies. No, droids were more predictable, they were programmed to fire at weak points in armor or for critical targets on their targets' body. Within the first few seconds of blocking, Naruto was able to devise the areas they were aiming at and slipped into his Soresu stance.

"Oh hell!" Anakin swore before he ignited his own lightsaber and charged the small army of droids from the side, using Naruto as a distraction to blindside them.

It only took three second for Rex and Bly to follow their general into combat, opening fire at the same time, while Ahsoka and Aayla joined in as well. With the three Jedi now carving their own path through the flank of the droids with the help of their clones, Naruto began to advance and redirect the bolts back to help thin the enemy's numbers. Naruto's defensive Soresu quickly turned into the highly aggressive form of Ataru and so he jumped into the fray with the dark side fueling his movements.

Droids fell left and right as the Republic and Sith forces decimated them until they were surrounded by a sea of scrap metal. Now the only person beside them was a rather fat looking creature, he had a lot of greed inside of him and that gave Naruto strength over him. With nothing more than a simple flick of his wrist, Naruto sent to pudgy creature to the ground before using the Force to slowly drag him back. The young Sith noted how the creature's fingers grew bloody as he dug them into the hard ground, trying to prevent his inevitable death from claiming him.

"What a pathetic little creature you are, fleeing in such a manner." Naruto growled before lifting the man up of the ground, holding him in the air while putting enough pressure on his windpipe to prevent him from properly breathing.

"Um, should we stop him?" Rex asked his fellow clone, not completely hating the sight of a Separatist pig being choked to death.

"Not unless we're ordered to."

"Pigs like you don't even deserve to live, be they Jedi, Sith, or any other group!" With a savage push of the Force, the pig was sent flying up into the air before landing on the ground with a sickening crunch.

Somehow, the man seemed to still be alive, and so Naruto unleashed lightning from his fingertips. The sound of the man's screams grew to the point that they were louder than Naruto's actual lightning. It was only when he felt Aayla's hand on his shoulder that Naruto decided to stop torturing the man, mainly since he didn't feel up to fighting the Jedi again so soon. If Aayla was honest, she thought the young Sith may have lashed out at her instead, but he simply stopped before taking a few steps back.

"Rex, Bly, restrain our Separatist friend here." Anakin ordered, an almost smug grin on his face.

"Gladly sir." The two clones replied.

With the injured ball of slime restrained, Naruto found himself staring off into space. However, in reality, he was trying to submerge himself within the Dark side. Something felt wrong...it was as if the Sith didn't hold half of the galaxy anymore, as if the Sith Empire had been wiped out almost completely. The looming void of darkness seemed to have been replaced with a calming light, which shouldn't be possible so quickly. Just what had happened?

"Sith, I would like to speak to you." said Aayla, walking past Naruto without even so much as glancing in his direction, and Naruto simply nodded before following after her.

Anakin and Ahsoka watched as the Jedi master and Sith Lord walked just out of hearing range, no doubt to keep their words hidden from the rest of them. Skywalker had no problem trusting the Jedi master, it was the Sith that he couldn't bring himself to trust. His own encounters with Dooku had led him to view the Sith as nothing more than monsters, monsters that needed to be put down so that peace could return to the galaxy. Ahsoka, on the other hand, only had the records of past Sith to base her opinion on. She hadn't really suffered at the hands of the Sith and only wanted to defeat them because that's what she thought a true Jedi should do.

"If you plan on lecturing me then save your breath, I have no want nor the time to listen to Jedi ways compared to Sith ways," Naruto hissed, having heard almost every one of the Jedi lectures at one point or another.

"No, despite my disagreement with your methods, you no doubt helped save many innocent lives by stopping those droids. I also wish to apologize for treating you as the enemy when you had risked your life to save us from death." now _that_ had caught Naruto slightly off guard, but he would never admit it.

"I serve the Force and it told me that the five of you must survive. Don't make it anything other than it is Jedi, if we were enemies then I would kill you without so much as a second thought." with that said, Naruto began walking towards where that droid ship had landed, he needed to get off this mudball of a planet.

"I pity you, to be so consumed by the Dark side that you would take a life on a mere whim," Aayla said to herself, although the words still echoed to Naruto.

Aayla didn't see it, but Naruto's mismatched eyes actually lowered with a bit of sadness etched into them. She didn't understand, how could he know any different when the Dark side was all he ever truly had in his life? All he'd ever really known? No, he had more important things to do than debate his life's choices with a Jedi. There was still the matter of getting off this planet. As Naruto approached the half built metal walls, his gaze fell upon the ship hidden behind only a handful of those skinny brown droids.

Using the tall grass to get in close, the young Sith used the Force to weaken the wall's supports. With the supports bent, the wall came crashing down on some of the working droids, crushing a good portion if the remaining droids. Then, with an earthshaking battle cry, Naruto activated his red lightsaber and charged forward like a raging demon. As the last of the droids fell, Naruto couldn't help the triumphant smirk that formed on his face. These droids were weak, they had none of the tactical prowess of the Sith droids, and their armor could not deflect the blade of a lightsaber. They were easy to manipulate, their programming was to only shoot at target without taking into consideration any other alternatives, and that gave most fighters the advantage. More often than not, they could be tricked in the firing upon each other if the target was fast enough to get out of the way.

"Pathetic pieces of scrap. Even if they're weak as all hell, how the Republic is having difficulty fighting you, I will never know." Naruto hissed as he strapped his lightsaber back to his belt and casually walked towards the large transport ship.

Once inside, Naruto found a more cubic droid talking to the hologram of a very old looking man. The man in question had a long, pointed, grey beard, was dressed in expensive dark clothing, and had a cape draped over his shoulders. However, what caught Naruto's attention was the lightsaber attached to the man's belt. Without even a second thought, Naruto crushed the droid with the Force and walked out of the shadows, facing the strange holographic man.

"Well this is most unexpected, I was not aware the Jedi had already taken this world. If I had known then I would have sent a larger force," said the man as Naruto just glared at him, not appreciating being called a Jedi.

"Don't insult me, I am no Jedi, I am a Sith," Naruto growled, resisting the urge to see if he could Force Choke the man on the hologram.

"...How interesting..." the man said after a moment before the hologram turned off, leaving Naruto with the feeling that he would meet that man again.

"I'm going to need a vacation after this." The Uzumaki sighed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 4: Old Memories**

It was odd to be in the presence of Republic soldiers without slaughtering them by the hundreds, or at least engaging them in some sort of battle. Instead of training actual citizens of the Republic, it seemed that they now resorted to using a clone army. From what Naruto overheard, the clones consider themselves all brothers and seemed to be mostly proud to serve the Republic. However, there were those among them that felt like they were being used by the Republic, that their lives didn't matter and could be thrown away as simply as one throws away trash. Yet Naruto found himself spending most of his time talking with the clones, gaining an insight as to what their different personalities were like.

The only reason Naruto agreed to even travel with the Jedi, instead of just jumping into his ship and taking off, was the fact that he needed answers. The Sith Empire received no reports of the Republic being engaged with another faction and they wouldn't have been able to keep it a secret for the many years they were fighting the Sith. Now supposedly they were going to the Jedi temple located on Coruscant, which should be nothing more than a burning pile of rubble at the moment. However, Naruto felt a strange uneasiness take hold of his heart and it was beginning to slowly form into full blown nervousness. He did not trust these Jedi not to have an ulterior motive and he felt as if he was walking into a trap of some kind.

"I was wondering when you would seek me out, little padawan." Naruto said, as he stared out into the blackness of space without even turning to see the person who had just entered the observation deck.

"My master told me to stay away from you." said Ahsoka Tano, her arms crossed and a defiant look on her face, making Naruto's lips twitch into a barely noticeable smirk. Willful, huh? He liked that. Good to know she wasn't mindlessly obedient like most other Jedi padawans he had known. Not that he would ever tell her that.

"Then perhaps you should listen to him before he begins to think I'm turning you to the Sith." Naruto taunted, poking fun at the Jedi's belief of simply being around a Sith meant that you must be becoming one of them.

"I can make my own choices!" Ahsoka almost growled, narrowing her eyes ever-so-slightly.

"Well, if you've come here to debate me on the ethics between our two orders, then I will have to politely decline. I've heard all such arguments on our respective orders' philosophy." said Naruto, wanting to get that out in the open before Ahsoka said anything else, but she seemed almost relieved at his words.

"Thank the Force, I hate lectures like that...So, what's your title in the Sith? You guys do give yourselves silly names, right?" Ahsoka asked as she moved to stand next to him.

"Silly names...yes I suppose some of them are rather ridiculous when you think about it. However, it is our masters that give us our titles. My master, who is a Darth, made me his equal by giving me the title of Darth Strakh." Naruto informed the padawan, seeing no harm in telling her his title.

"Strakh, huh? I thought that there were only ever two Sith at any one time, a master and an apprentice?" asked Ahsoka. That information caused Naruto to actually turned his head to glance at her.

"Only two, how ridiculous...there are thousands of Sith, an entire empire ready to crush the Republic. Although I never really cared for all of that, no I am a student of war and I am only at home when I'm on the battlefield. Also, I suggest you make yourself scarce. Your master's coming." With that said, Ahsoka hurried out of the observation deck, sensing that her master was indeed looking for her and she did not want to be caught going against his orders.

Left on his own again, Naruto decided he should walk around the ship one more time, just incase he missed anything when making a rough schematic of the ship. If it was a trap, then Naruto wanted to know the fastest way to blow up one of these ships so he could escape. So, as he walked down the long corridors, to his surprise, he bumped into Jedi Master Aayla Secura.

"Jedi," Naruto greeted, bowing his head ever so slightly to the female Jedi Master.

"Sith," Aayla greeted back.

"I must say, this ship bares a striking resemblance to those that the Sith Empire uses, I'm curious as to how you retrieved the design?" Naruto asked as he slowly began to circle the lone Jedi, probing her mind ever so lightly for any valuable information, only to find a deadly blue lightsaber pointed at his neck.

"Stay out of my mind!" now that wasn't a very Jedi-like response...this was interesting.

"You have been touched by the dark side before and you apparently didn't enjoy your time under its shroud." Naruto almost laughed as he slowly placed his hand over Aayla's and forced her to lower the glowing blade of death, or peace in a Jedi's case.

"Yes, I have experienced the _lies_ of you Sith and your ways, I will not be tempted again." Aayla said, clearly calmer than she was before but the signs of hostility was still noticeable in her tone, and that just made Naruto want to delve deeper.

"The person to turn you must have been so cruel, so sloppy in doing so, for you to suddenly act like those you claim to fight." Naruto commented, releasing the small hold he had within the Jedi's mind as he slowly leaned in closer, backing the Jedi up against a wall.

"Release me!" Aayla silently demanded, feeling fear grip her heart when she stared into Naruto's mismatched eyes, more so his yellow one that reminded her of her own encounter with a Sith.

Aayla could feel the dark side slowly worming inside of her mind, dark trendels pushing through her mental shields with practiced ease. Her eyes began to roll upwards as she continually attempted to block out the dark thoughts slowly beginning to take over her mind. Naruto, whose smile had become savage and unkind, suddenly frowned and pulled away from Aayla as if he had been burned by fire. It wasn't that she had somehow harmed him, or even resisted him to the point of pushing him back, it was that he wasn't consciously trying to turn her.

"That...was unexpected," Naruto managed to say before he, once more, found himself on the business end of a lightsaber.

"Enter my mind again and I will perceive you as my enemy!" Aayla snapped before quickly walking away, leaving Naruto standing all alone in the middle of the empty corridor, a thoughtful look forming on his face.

"Interesting, yes very interesting."

Still...what he had seen in her mind almost reminded him of his own training. Naruto shuttered, grasping the lightwhip he carried, remembering the day he got it.

(Flashback)

Wapeesh

"AH!"

Wapeesh!

"AAH!"

Deep in the hidden dungeons of Korriban, a place devoted to the suffering of those unlucky enough the incur a Sith's wrath. A ten year old Naruto, who looked to be starved to the point that they was almost no meat on his bones, could be found strapped in between two poles. Standing behind him was a full blooded Sith, a savage grin marring his face, as he brought an electric whip down on Naruto's unguarded back. This had not been the first stroke, no less than twenty bloody cuts could be found bleeding on the boys back. Each one having been more painful than the last and the boy could barely find it within himself to beg for it to stop, for that only seemed to make the Sith strike harder.

"Scream boy, scream louder!" the Sith roared as the poles binding Naruto suddenly surged with electricity and made the boy's frail body stiff with pain, his eyes nearly rolling into the back of his head.

WOPEESH!

The pain had grown too much for Naruto's brittle form to handle and his mind retreated away from the waking world, to try and save itself from the horror that was his tormentor. Yet this didn't deter the Sith, who grabbed and electro pick with his free hand and roughly jabbed it into Naruto's bleeding back, forcing him to wake.

"That's enough, our orders were to break him, not kill him!" someone yelled from above and suddenly Naruto felt relief that there would be no more pain, he could rest now.

With a sharp hiss, the Sith left the room and the menacing red lights suddenly shut off, leaving Naruto in the consuming darkness. The darkness had become a safety net for Naruto, for it was the only time pain was not inflicted upon him. For an entire year he was tortured, thrown into a bacta tank, and made to suffer once more, day in and day out. Just as Naruto believed he could rest, the doors opened once more and the sound of heavy boots hitting the metal ground could be heart. This person was larger than the torturer, there was also an aura of primal anger about him, an anger that made Naruto's blood turn to ice.

"Why do you let them torture you boy?" the man asked, with darkness hiding his features from Naruto's puffy red eyes, not that he dared to look at a Sith in the eyes again, for the pain following had been mind numbing.

"I am weak...my only use is pleasing other's anger..." he sobbed, those words had been pounded into his head from the very day he had arrived in this room, that his sole existence in life was to suffer for other's amusement.

"Do you want revenge?"

"I am weak, my only use is pleasing other's anger," an almost jaw breaking slap crossed Naruto's face, making a sudden fire burn in his eyes as he dared to glare into glowing yellow eyes, since they were the only thing he could see of the person before him.

"Do you hate the one who gives you pain, do you want revenge?!" the man roared, his metal plated hands clasping around Naruto's throat, forcing the boy's windpipe to constrict and air to be almost completely out of his reach.

"Y-Y-Yes...YES!" with those two words, the man released Naruto's throat and a glowing red blade suddenly cut through the metal bindings that kept Naruto in place, allowing the nearly broken boy to fall to the unforgiving ground.

"Then take your revenge," the man said before a wicked looking dagger was dropped in front of Naruto's face and the man simply left the room. Naruto knew that the next person to enter would be the bringer of his pain.

With whimpering movements, Naruto grabbed the knife and moved to the corner concealed away from the entrance view. There he sat, his hands shaking with fear and anticipation, waiting for those cold black doors to slide open once more. Naruto wouldn't have to wait long, for not two minutes later the Sith had returned, whip in hand.

"Time to continue our time together!" the Sith sounded almost happy when he said those words, but his joy soon turned into a scream of pain when a cold blade sunk itself into his right thigh, his body reacting on reflex.

With a vicious slap, Naruto was sent to his back, fully aware what awaiting him now that he had missed his chance. The Sith cursed in languages Naruto had never heard before as he pulled the blade from his leg and glared angrily at his victim. Naruto didn't fully know what happened yet, only that all of his fear and anger suddenly overflowed his body and the Sith was sent flying into the opposite wall.

"Y-You little bastard! I'll kill you!" the Sith roared but before he could get up a blade sunk itself into his heart, making his body fall limp.

Naruto stood there, his hands trembling around the blade still embedded in the Sith's chest, blood covering his hands to the point that they matched the Sith's red skin. The torture, the pain, the fear, and all of the anger overcame any sense Naruto still hand and it drove him over the edge.

"Die," Naruto rasped out, as he pulled the blade from the Sith's chest and stabbed it right into his torturer's left eye.

"Die!" another stab.

"Die! die! die! die! die! die! die! die! DIE!" by the time Naruto regained his senses, his bone thin arms lay limp at his side and the Sith's face had been mangled beyond recognition.

Sticking out of the Sith's right eye was the blade that had killed him and sticking out of his left eye was the hilt of the whip that had tortured Naruto for an entire year. Naruto's hair, face, practically his entire body, was now covered in a mix of his own and the Sith's blood. His eyes had become mixed matched, with one yellow and the other azure, and he was now deathly still. Not even the sound of another entering the cell was enough to stir Naruto from his stillness, but the man's words reached him all the same.

"Impressive, it's now time for your next lesson."

(End Flashback)

Shaking the memory off, Naruto resumed touring the ship before he stopped and sighed, "You know, I don't believe stealth is your area of expertise," Naruto said without even looking at the man who stood behind him, his senses had long since been honed to a dagger's tip.

"You may have fooled the others, but I know what you really are Sith, a monster without remorse or any sense of morality." Anakin Skywalker hissed, his past issues with other Sith coming to light and allowing Naruto to receive a deeper understanding to just who Anakin Skywalker really was.

"Remorse and morality is something that no Sith can have if they wished to survive, and I am a survivor," Naruto claimed, his back still turned to the Jedi behind him, but Naruto could feel the anger buried deep within his heart.

"What's your real reason for being here? Do you plan on taking on the entire Jedi order by yourself, because there are far more easier ways to get yourself killed." Anakin taunted, trying to get a rise out of the Sith, and yet Naruto still didn't face him.

"I was there when the Sith Empire burned your temple to the ground, I've killed hundreds of Jedi and Republic soldiers, I have nothing to fear now more than I did when I killed your fellows." it was a simple taunt but one that nearly sent Skywalker over the edge, that and the fact that Naruto was subtly wearing on the young man's mind to make him more aggressive.

All would have gone as planned had the captain not sent Skywalker a message saying that they were nearing the capital of the galaxy.

After a few more hours, the ship landed and Naruto was lead out to behold Coruscant, utterly undamaged. This was a place that the Sith Empire had been trying to take over since before the war had even started and now Naruto was going there as a possible guest! Malgus would have gotten a kick out of the whole situation, but he had apparently been dead for the last thousand or so years. It was still shocking, for Naruto, to find that he was now in a time where the Sith Empire was little more than dust and ashes.

"A deserving fate for traitors..." Naruto said to himself, although he really should have seen it coming, you could never trust a Sith even if you are one.

Within a matter of minutes, Naruto found himself on a transport ship headed for the Jedi Temple itself, which would no doubt consist of several Jedi Knights just in case the young Sith tried to do anything against them. It was something to be expected but not something Naruto had to like, for it reminded him of his earlier years of being controlled by more powerful Sith. It reminded him of when he was nothing more than a weak boy, too scared to fight back against those who caused him pain.

"Welcome to the Jedi Temple...again."


	5. Chapter 5

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 5: Negotiations**

The Jedi temple, not the original one mind you, was a magnificent sight to behold, even by the very Sith that had been sent to rip it down to its foundations. Ironically it looked almost just like it had back in Naruto's own time, accept there was a lot more security around, meaning that the Jedi could at least learn from their mistakes. The Jedi Sentinels stood at attention as the entire Jedi Council, yes some of them had even traveled back to the Temple just for the Sith, walked out to greet the landing shuttle.

Naruto himself could feel the Force nexus, underneath the massive temple, flux ever so slightly as he approached. The moment the shuttle touched down it was as if the temple itself remembered what Naruto had done those thousands of years ago, it wasn't all that noticeable but the way the sentinels tightened their grips on their lightsabers was all the information Naruto needed. Ah yes...and now here stood the mighty Jedi Council, a group of people that he had wanted to kill ever since he first tasted Jedi blood. Well, apparently he would have to hold off on that little pleasure...at least for a while.

As Naruto approached the Jedi council, noticing the way the Jedi and Republic troops moved around to box him in, the blonde haired Sith gave the most pleasant smile he could muster. Naruto swore that the Dark Council were more relaxed than this lot, then again...the Dark Council would kill anyone who crossed them, so maybe this group was the lesser of two evils?

"Believe the reports I did not, a Sith you are, hm?" asked the little green Jedi, who no doubt was one of the strongest ones in the temple, if Naruto's connection to the Force wasn't sending him mixed signals.

"Oh, I'm as much a Sith as you are a Jedi, although past experience has taught me that you want to ask a completely different question. So go ahead and ask, I won't bite all that much." Naruto joked, knowing it was a poor attempt at humor but he mainly did it to see if he could get under this green creature's skin, which apparently didn't work.

"Inside you will come, many things to talk about we have." said the Jedi master before he turned around and continued back into the Jedi temple.

The moment they all stepped into the temple, Naruto saw possibly every Jedi Knight in the temple and they all seemed to be lining the path that Naruto was to take. Republic soldiers stood on the balconies above with their weapons trained on the Sith's body, they wanted to make it clear that if he tried anything then he would stand no chance of surviving. Whatever the Sith had done, be it the old war or after, had clearly left its mark upon the Jedi, a thing that made Naruto gain a very savage grin. With each step Naruto took, his metal boots clicking against the stone flooring, some Jedi looked about ready to either attack or shit their pants, sometimes both.

"I'm curious about something, my little green friend, are you all so scared of me that you would turn your temple into a massive contingency plan against any aggressive behavior on my part?" Naruto inquired, a hint of Sith smugness to his voice, as he glanced down at the Jedi Master.

"Keepers of the peace we are, ignorant we are not, your presences a danger it is. Foolish it would be, to underestimate you hm?" asked the green Jedi, this time sounding like he was teasing Naruto, a feeling that made the Sith grin even more.

"Finally! A Jedi with a sense of humor! By the Force, I never thought a Jedi with actual emotion existed, much less one able to get a joke! Might as well program lightsaber fighting forms into droids, you Jedi are so cold, unfeeling and indifferent!"

Aayla, on the other hand, had yet to still her pounding heart, she could still feel the way the dark side easily entered her mind again. Did it really matter that she had pushed herself away from the dark side? Could it really just enter her mind so easily? This Sith, this Naruto, had nearly made her regress into what she had once been, she had nearly turned back to the darkness!

"Master Secura, are you all right? You don't look well..." said Ahsoka as she looked up at the blue skinned Jedi master, worry evident on her face.

"I'm simply tired from our trip, I believe I will return to my room after the council meeting."

Minutes later, the entire Jedi council sat in their comfy little chairs, with Anakin and Ahsoka standing off to the side, and Naruto standing right in the middle of the room. In all honesty, this kind of reminded him of the Dark Council's own meeting room, except it was a lot darker and there was always the possibility of offending one of them and ending up dead. Still, at least they allowed Naruto to keep his lightsabers, no doubt a sign of good will on their part.

"So, you all have your questions, so why don't we avoid the philosophical part of this little chat and just jump right into the thick of things?" Naruto suggested, a hint of sarcasm in his tone, but his overly blunt behavior didn't seem to faze most of the council.

"Agreed, Skywalker says you claim to be a part of a Sith Empire, one that hasn't existed for thousands of years, not since Darth Bane," said Jedi Master Mace Windu, who gained Naruto's attention the moment he spoke.

"I don't know anything of this Darth Bane so he must have been after my time, however I am still from that relative time period. I was the apprentice to Darth Malgus, born a slave in the temples of Korriban, and trained in the Sith arts until I was given the title of Lord of the Sith," Naruto explained, watching each and every Jedi for a moment of weakness but these were masters of the light side and they would not show fear so easily

"Come here you have, by what means?" asked master Yoda as he leaned in ever so slightly.

"I don't know. Last thing I remember before ending up in this era was being caught between a Sith armada and a black hole. I was ordered back by the Sith Council but it was a trap to kill me, something they couldn't seem to do to my face. The Sith Council often didn't agree with my methods concerning specific Jedi and I seemed to have forced their hand." said the Sith Lord.

"What could the Sith be so disturbed by, you would think they would agree with the torture of Jedi?" said one of the other masters, who seemed to have a rather large and narrow head.

"You misunderstand, the strong Jedi that I fought, the ones who manage to impress me, I allowed them to escape if they so wish. I allowed them to keep their lives in the hopes that we will once again meet on the battlefield," Naruto said and if that had surprised the council then they didn't show it in the slightest.

"You said that you were a slave that became a Sith, how did that come about?" asked Master Windu.

"My childhood is no longer relevant, it has happened, and there is no point in retelling it. Keep you nose out of my business in regards to my past." Naruto stated with such a lack of emotion in his tone that he could have been mistaken for a Jedi, had the menacing aura not been present of course.

"Correct you are, your future we must decide." said master Yoda.

"My future? How is my future in any way yours to decide?! I came here for the sole reason of joining yet another war, because there is no other place that I am more at home. Me being here is simple a courtesy, that I don't often give, and to inform you of my intentions." Naruto stated, his chin tilted upwards to make it look as if he was above the Jedi in authority while his yellow eye glowed with dark side power.

"Your intentions hm? Curious I am, explain if you will," said Yoda, who wasn't even fazed by the dark side power that seemed to warp around Naruto like a thousand snakes snapping at anything that got too close to him, while also feeding off of him at the same time.

"I'm going to find any Sith that still exist in this timeline and I'm going to kill them without hesitation. I don't care about your courts, your laws, or even your ethical code, I will have my revenge against those who betrayed me. Even if I have to deliver it against their latest generation. This Count Dooku claims himself to be a Sith Lord and so he shall die, this droid army serves him so they will all be cut to pieces. Those are my intentions." Naruto said with each word sending out a cold wave of pure dark side energy until it simply vanished the moment Naruto stopped talking.

"Enemies we need not be, a common enemy we share. Perhaps an alliance we might form hm?" asked the Grand Master of the Jedi order, which got shocked looks from the council members and the one Jedi Knight in the room with him.

"You can't be serious! The last time a Sith entered this temple, it was nearly destroyed! Not to mention it was the disguise of a treaty that allowed them to sack this very planet! No Sith can be trusted, no matter how much their goals align with ours!" declared Jedi Master Oppo Rancisis, to which Naruto sent him a sideways glare.

"If I make a promise then I keep it, if you make a promise and don't keep it then I'll make you regret doing so." was Naruto's response to the Jedi master's accusation that he could not be trusted simply because he was Sith.

"Despite the dangers, I believe that having this Sith could give us an edge over the Sith Lord that is currently against us. Obviously there must be rules that both sides agree to but an alliance could be worth the risk." said Master Windu, who may not like the idea of working with a Sith but he could see the advantages of doing so.

"Agreed." all of the other council members said at the same time before the meeting was officially over and Naruto was given permission to stay inside the Jedi Temple for the time being, although he was to be escorted by several Jedi Sentinels until an actual alliance could be formed between them.

Deciding that since the last time he had been to the Jedi Temple, it was on fire, Naruto began to explore it in it's entirety with his escort of four Jedi Sentinels in formation around him. Naruto had to say that he was actually impressed with the mental shielding that the Jedi Sentinels possessed and their resistance to his subtle probes with the dark side. Still, the Jedi Temple truly was something of a marvel, much like the Sith Temple of Korriban. The main difference was the feel that the Jedi Temple gave of, it was a sense of peace in a universe constantly trying to rip itself apart. There were no massive statues that helped inflate a Jedi's ego but their library was at least three times larger than the Sith's. Then Naruto stumbled upon the training courtyards where Jedi of all ranks were practicing their forms or sparring with one another.

"So, my silent escort, would any of you like to spar with me?" Naruto asked the four masked Jedi around him, all of whom didn't even so much as glance at Naruto when he asked them a question.

"I'll take that offer." A voice called.


	6. Chapter 6

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 6: Clash**

Naruto prided himself on being able to size up his opponent by watching them before their battle had even begun, that was why he suddenly felt a rush from the Jedi who was now standing across from him. Jedi Master Mace Windu, a man born from the Korun species, was an experienced Jedi who had mastered all forms of lightsaber combat and Naruto could already tell that this man was far superior to all but the most powerful Jedi of his time. Mace Windu had just taken Naruto up on his offer to have a spar, but Naruto knew that there was far more to this than just a Jedi wishing to prove himself against a Sith.

"You are aware that a spar with me is done with our actual lightsabers, not those pesky training sabers that you Jedi love to use?" Naruto asked the Master Jedi, raising his eyebrow ever so slightly while his mismatched eyes just stared into his opponent's.

"Yes, are you aware that spars inside the Jedi Temple end when one side has surrendered and not dead?" Mace asked in return, only for Naruto to snort and he stepped into the center of the training courtyard and ignited his crimson lightsaber, a small smirk forming when several of the younger Jedi took a hesitant step back.

"Oh I'm very aware as to why you Jedi can't handle the pain of a lightsaber." Naruto taunted as Mace activated his purple bladed lightsaber and stood across from Naruto in the center of the courtyard, the both of them readying themselves for the fight to come.

There was no shout to begin the match, no grand roar that would signal the beginning of some great struggle, only the sound of two lightsabers clashing as their wielders closed the gap between one another in one massive jump. With their red and purple blades crossed, along with their eyes locked in unwavering gazes, a power struggle emerged between the Sith Lord and Jedi Master. Just when it seemed like their struggle would go on forever, with their overwhelming strength being of equal proportion, Mace suddenly jumped away and Naruto simply lowered his lightsaber and adopted a relaxed pose.

"Not bad Jedi, there aren't many people who can hold a bladelock with me and not be overwhelmed," Naruto commented as he seemed to examine his lightsaber and rotate it around in his hand before suddenly charging forward like a crazed animal.

Mace could describe the feeling of Naruto slamming into him as akin to a starfighter hitting him at full force, which might as well have happened from the way Mace suddenly found himself flying off the ground and into the far wall. The wall the Jedi Master slammed into crumbled under the force of his body making contact with it and he only had a second to jump out of the way or else Naruto's crimson blade would have cut him in half from head to toe. With movements that were honed by years of training, Mace rolled to the side of Naruto and struck with the precision, aiming towards Naruto's unguarded side. Yet Naruto managed to bring his lightsaber back just in time to knock the purple lightsaber away just seconds before it would have pierced his side.

This time it was Naruto's turn to jump away and get some distance between them, that near fatal mistake of his made the Sith realize that this was no ordinary Jedi he was dealing with but a member of the Jedi High Council. So, to gain an edge in this duel, Naruto relied on the ancient Sith tradition of using his passions to strengthen himself and his connection to the force. The effect happened almost instantly, with the weaker Jedi feeling a sudden chill in the air and Naruto lone yellow eye practically glowed with the unholy power of the Dark Side. But as the strength of the Dark side surged through him, he noticed something...it felt like the Dark side energies he was raidating were being absorbed. And if he followed where it was...oh!

Well...now this was indeed interesting! Naruto grinned.

"You are strong, I will admit that, but fighting a single opponent will grow boring quickly. Is there anyone else who wants to challenge me?!" Naruto shouted as he spun around with his arms held out wide, leaving his back fully exposed if Mace ever chose to strike at him from behind, but that wasn't the Jedi way.

Naruto's answer came in the form of Obi-wan Kenobi himself walking into the ring, lightsaber held in hand, and a calmness about him that reminded Naruto of a true Jedi Master.

"Well, if you're offering, then who am I to refuse?" Obi-wan asked in an almost teasing manner as he entered the courtyard and activated his blue lightsaber and got into his traditional ready stance, followed by Mace doing the same on the other side of Naruto.

"Finally, a real fight!" Naruto laughed and his purple lightsaber suddenly flew from his belt to his hand and the deadly blade activated a split second later.

Windu was the first one to attack, leaping at Naruto from all the way across the courtyard as Obi-wan did the same from his position. The two Jedi Masters were hoping to overwhelm the Sith by pressing both his sides at the same time, however their lightsabers only hit the ground as Naruto rolled under their strikes. Spinning on his heel, Naruto charged Windu first, knowing the man would have trouble taking on the Sith at full speed. However, Obi-wan jumped in between them and forced Naruto to engage him instead. Their lightsabers were like blurs in the air, with Obi-wan's immovable defense living up to its name and Naruto's unstoppable attack threatening to shatter it with almost every meeting of their lightsabers.

Despite Naruto using both his lightsabers at once, the young Sith still couldn't find any hole in Obi-wan's defense, it was as if the Jedi Master wasn't fighting him on his own but was allowing the Force to guide his actions. Wait...that was it! This Jedi had surrendered himself completely to the will of the Force and so it wasn't just him who was fighting! With a sudden swing at Obi-wan's feet, hoping to knock the Jedi off balance just long enough to get a hit in, Naruto was forced to raise his purple blade to block Master Windu's own sudden attack. The thing that differed between Jedi and Sith was how well they work within their own groups, with the Sith looking out for themselves and the Jedi often knowing how to cover each other's weaknesses. In this instance, Obi-wan represented the defense, Naruto's observations of his dueling style told him that much, while Mace Windu represented the unyielding attack. It was only upon the arrival of another Jedi that Naruto felt something shift within the waves of the Force, it was subtle and easily missed but Naruto noticed it none the less, something had happened.

"Master Windu, Master Obi-wan, the Jedi Council is convening in an emergency meeting." said the lowly Jedi knight as all three warriors deactivated their lightsaber, the fight was apparently over.

"Yes, thank you, we shall be there in a moment." said Obi-wan as the Jedi Knight left and Naruto personal little group of guards formed around the Sith with their lightsabers in hand.

"Well, not that this wasn't fun, but apparently I must be going, have fun little Jedi!" Naruto teased as he was escorted from the room, an all too happy smile on his face for any Jedi's liking, but what could you really expect from a battle born Sith?

"By the way, Jedi...that was a pretty good trick." Naruto admitted, smirking. "If my senses are right, you were drawing on my power. Sith release Dark side energy, you know this. What you were doing was absorbing that energy into yourself and channeling it to throw it back at the one giving it off. So the stronger the Dark side-user you face, the stronger you get from them. Very nice...good thing for the Sith you weren't around a thousand years ago during the Sacking of Coruscant...all those Sith for you to feed off the Dark side energy of to fuel your power..."

At that, the younglings whom had been training in the courtyard prior gasped, staring at Windu in shock. A member of the Jedi Council who used the Dark side?! That went in the face of everything they were learning at the temple!

Windu stiffened.

"Maybe I'll try that trick myself sometime...after all, wonder how powerful a Sith using that skill would be." Naruto said thoughtfully.

At that, Windu activated his blade and with a roar, lunged at Naruto. But as Naruto whipped around, his eyes widened as Obi-wan imposed himself between the young Sith and his fellow Jedi, blocking Windu's amethyst blade with his azure one.

"Master Windu, what are you doing?!"

"Stand down, Kenobi! The method of Vaapad is far too dangerous to be used by a Sith!" Mace snarled.

"True...I would be inclined to agree. A Sith knowing that method would pretty much have perpetual Dark Side energy. Thanks for that!" Naruto cackled.

"ENOUGH!"

At the voice, everything froze and everyone turned to see the small, green Jedi from before.

"Grand Master Yoda...! This...this Sith...!" Windu tried saying as he disengaged Obi-wan in their blade lock, Kenobi shutting his weapon off as they separated.

"Master Windu! The Jedi way, your actions are not! An alley, you proposed he be. So why attack him?"

Windu cringed, deactivating his lightsaber. It amused Naruto to see a member of the Jedi Council getting scolded as if they were a child.

"Ah...I needed that!" Naruto cackled, putting his lightsaber back on his belt and grinned cheerfully, even as he was escorted to his own personal little room in the temple. It was as bare as an empty closet and hardly and bigger than one, the room no doubt had cameras and sensors covering every inch of it, and was left on his own aside from the four Jedi standing watch just outside his new room. The young Sith found it amusing at how cautious Jedi were nowadays, the Sith really did a number on them over the years and it seemed like they were finally taking them seriously for a change. So, since he had nothing better to do at the moment, Naruto found himself literally meditating the day away, diving deep into the folds of the Dark Side, something of which made the Jedi outside his room very tense. Most Jedi have felt the touch of the Dark Side, apparently that's how they graduated by resisting it, but so few here had ever actually felt a Sith radiating the Dark Side to such a degree. It was night outside, if Naruto's internal clock was accurate, and yet he sensed a familiar presence in the airduct right above him.

"If you planned on assassinating me, little Jedi, you should work on concealing yourself a little better." Naruto said, without ever opening his eyes, as the vent slid open and out came the Togruta Padawan of Anakin Skywalker.

"Hey, how did you even know I was there?" Ahsoka asked as she dusted some of the dust off her uniform before crossing her arms with an almost pouty look on her face.

"Even amongst all the Jedi here, I can still separate who is who, that and no other Jedi would be curious enough to sneak into a Sith's room unannounced." Naruto commented as he ended his meditation, knowing it wouldn't be of any more use now that there was someone here to interrupt him, before standing up to greet the little Padawan.

"Yeah, well, my master is driving me a little crazy and this is the one place he wouldn't think I would be," Ahsoka admitted while Naruto gestured for her to sit down on one of the many chairs in the room while he sat back down on the bed.

"Oh I believe I know the feeling, my own master was not one to let things pass without question. Although I think your problem with Skywalker is greatly different than my problem with my old master Malgus." Naruto commented, earning a light chuckle from the Padawan.

"I've got to say, you're a lot more enjoyable to be around than any other Sith I've met," said Ahsoka, making Naruto smirk ever so slightly.

"Oh, so you have known many then?"

"Just two and both of them are just about as evil as anyone could get."

"I don't know, this war of yours is very different than the one I fought in. You all fight droids instead of fully trained Sith warriors, a fact I find almost insulting. From what I've seen, the Jedi of this time period is the weakest I've ever seen, your skilled warriors are few and far between and your don't seem to hold the power you once had," Naruto explained as Ahsoka adopted a thoughtful look.

"Were the Jedi really that strong?" the young Togruta asked.

"Oh yes, there is a reason I believe the Jedi are the only true rivals to the Sith. Despite our different codes, our ways of going about situations, and even our basic traditions, the Jedi and the Sith will always be the only ones worthy to fight one another. No one else has the right to challenge the Sith but the Jedi and no one else has the right to challenge the Jedi but the Sith."

"You know, for a guy that doesn't like to discuss philosophy, you sure are passionate about it," Ahsoka pointed out, missing the fact that she was teasing a Sith Lord!

"Hm, I guess you are right, but you should leave before someone catches you in here with me. They may get the impression that I'm trying to turn you to the Dark Side," said Naruto, making a shooing motion with his hand, but Ahsoka just looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Are you saying you wouldn't try to turn me to the Dark Side?"

"Well, not yet at least...you're interesting as is, so why spoil that? Take that however you wish." he said, getting a raised brow from her.

"Say...there's something bugging me. When we fought, you said that it's because of the Jedi the Sith Order even exists...what did you mean by that?"

The blonde sighed "The Sith as a race, they were old; the Sith as an Order...well...that'll have to be a story for another time; sure the last thing you want is for anyone to find you here with me talking to you about Sith history and why, for all their talk of just sitting around and meditating all the time, the Jedi are the first to have boots on the ground and weapons ready at the first mention of Sith, after all."

Ahsoka left soon after that, a different perspective on the Sith she had met not long ago, and Naruto eventually went to sleep on the pitiful things the Jedi call beds. It seems that a few thousand years hasn't improved the Jedi's comfort technology, they might as well be sleeping on slabs of stone with blankets thrown over them. As Naruto felt his mind drift into the realm of dreams, the day's events caused him to be reminded of his time under his master.

 _(Dream/Flashback)_

 _"Faster, you little wretch, move faster!" a Sith warrior yelled to a boy no more than ten years old, who was using a dueling blade to fend off said Sith warrior._

 _With a vicious kick to the face, the Sith warrior sent the boy half way across the room and actually made him hit the hard metal walls. This small boy was Naruto Uzumaki and he was undergoing training that should only be suited for the older acolytes. With the stubbornness of his ancestors, Naruto rose to his feet once again only to be grabbed by his robes and thrown across the training room once more. By now his anger was the only thing pushing him forward, yet it wasn't great enough to do anything more, or so it appeared._

 _"Is this the best you can do, your whore mother had better fighting skills than this!" now, if there was one thing Naruto truly hated then it was for someone to say things about the woman who gave birth to him._

 _When Naruto actually lashed out, all of his pent up rage finally being let out, the entire training academy shoot under its force. Naruto's sole target was the Sith warrior before him and, in the blink of an eye, the man exploded from the inside out. Blood and body parts splattered the training room and, in the middle of it all, was the last Uzumaki. Yet Naruto's rage had not been satisfied and he let out another primal scream, raising his head to the heavens as he did so, as the entire academy continued to shake violently. That is until a gauntlet covered fist hit him in the back of his head and knocked him out cold._

 _"Take the boy back to his chambers, I would have him ready for his next trial."_

 _"Yes, Lord Malgus."_


	7. Chapter 7

**Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 7: Touched by Darkness**

Life inside the Jedi Temple all too quickly became something of a bore for Naruto, given that when he visited the old Sith Temples he could at least kill some time by torturing captured Republic soldiers or killing the hostile, local wildlife. Yet here, in the supposed heart of the Republic, the young Sith warrior found himself itching for a fight more and more as the days went on. No Jedi would take up his offer for a sparring match, not after his fight with two the two Masters, and the four Jedi guards assigned to him weren't much for conversation. He couldn't even find a good spot to meditate on the dark side without the overwhelming light of the temple seemingly washing it away. It was at this point that he decided to test how good the training simulators actually were, if for no other reason than to get his blood pumping.

Not even a minute into training and the ten droids he was facing were rendered little more than scrap. At least the training droids on Korriban actually had some bite to their attacks, using real weapons instead of training ones, and were specifically designed to try and kill the one using them! With a frustrated grunt, Naruto stalked out of the training simulator, quickly being flanked by the guards assigned to him, and began the short trek back to his bare and boring room.

Naruto suddenly stopped, a small smirk forming on his lips, FINALLY! Something to do! And just when the sheer complacency and boredom these Jedi had surrounded themselves with that he was forced to endure were starting to make him go rabid! "Did you miss me already, Master Secura?"

None of the Jedi Knights around him had even sensed the Master's sudden arrival and quickly turned to see Aayla Secura standing a few yards behind them with a deep frown on her face. There was an aura of intensity around the Jedi Master than not many had seen before, and her gaze alone threatened to make Naruto spontaneously explode! This wasn't a coincidence, she had planned to intercept Naruto at this very moment. Which could only mean that she wanted something from him and was willing to be seen publicly searching for him.

"I wish to speak with you," Aayla sent a slight glance at the four Jedi Knights, considering her next word very carefully, "Alone."

"Oh, but what about my new friends here? I'm not sure they'd like someone else trying to butt in on their _exciting_ job of _babysitting_." Naruto had yet to face the Twi'lek Jedi, but one could practically taste to sarcasm dripping from each and every word.

"Leave us." Aayla ordered, to which the Knights obeyed if albeit a bit hesitantly, soon leaving only the Sith Lord and Jedi Master in the empty hallway located somewhere deep within the Jedi temple.

"Hm, you have me alone, but what now?" still Naruto did not face her.

"When you entered my mind, sensed the dark side of the Force than touched me when I was still young, you did something to me. I can feel the shadow inside me now, like ants crawling just beneath my skin trying to get out. I want you to remove whatever it is you've done to me." the way Aayla spoke made it clear that this was not a request, she was not going to give Naruto a choice in the matter, it was as pure an order as there ever was one.

"Despite the misguided belief that you can order me to do something, what makes you think I've done anything to you? I've placed no subtle mind control on you, I've awakened nothing that wasn't already there, and I have no idea how to remove something that I haven't done. All I did was notice you'd dealt with the side of the Force you don't like." this time, Naruto did turn to face the Jedi Master, his mismatched eyes boring into her own like twin gems.

"Then how do I fix what has happened to me?!" Aayla asked, using every fiber of her will to suppress the sudden bolt of rage that shot through her body when Naruto denied her what she wanted.

"I'm a Sith, we live off of what you're trying to suppress. Perhaps you should speak to another one of your Jedi companions, I'm sure they'd be thrilled to help a fellow Jedi control the darkness within your own heart...or they would simply banish you..." Naruto smirked and leaned in closer to Aayla, "It's a shame really, that you Jedi would banish one of your own simply for feeling the most basic impulses of a living being. But such is your way, I suppose."

"You don't see us Jedi going around slaughtering hundreds of innocent people just because we believe we're entitled to! Only you Sith seem to have that freedom of conscience!" Aayla shot back, baring her teeth as her eyes flashed yellow for just a split second.

A split second Naruto hadn't missed.

"Not freedom on conscience, freedom of restraint. We fight for what we want, we kill for what we want, and if we die in the process then someone else's want was simply stronger than ours. For example, I let those I deem as strong escape with their lives. The reason I do this is because I believe they have earned the right to continue fighting, although I mostly hope they return to challenge me again. This is what I want, to fight harder and harder opponents until I am either the last one standing or have fallen to someone else's own quest for greatness. It's the law of nature after all, that the strong thrive while the weak perish." Naruto spoke as if he was giving a lecture at the Sith Temple, his one yellow eye glowing ever so slightly with dark side energy.

"None of that changes that you Sith are monsters, animals that need to be put down!" Aayla's voice was steadily growing louder, her hand subconsciously gripping the hilt of one of her lightsabers.

"Then I wonder, Master Jedi, will you be the one to put me down? Will you place your lightsaber over my heart and end my path of bloodshed? Will you give into the darkness that you've been struggling to suppress since you succumbed to the will of Volfe Karkko?" Naruto leaned down until his face was a mere inch from Aayla's, his hand holding her lightsaber wielding one right over his unprotected heart

"You'll betray us in the end, it's in your nature." Aayla tried to reason with herself, trying with all her might to find justification in what she wanted to do.

"It is."

"You're evil, you've done evil things to innocents and would corrupt us all if you could! To try and twist what we think until it was too perverted to be even recognizable!" her thumb twitched over the activation switch, all it would take was just the bare minimum amount of pressure and she could end this Sith before he could even react.

"I would, but then...I was raised on Korriban. Never given a choice what to be or know any other way of life. So, that in mind...I wonder: is it in you to kill an unarmed man in cold blood, even if he was a Sith?" Aayla's eyes were now a striking yellow, even as she looked up at Naruto with fear clearly displayed in them.

A blue beam of energy suddenly shot from the lightsaber, although instead of going through Naruto's heart, it instead shot up in between the two Force-users. While Aayla was having her own battle of wills, Naruto had subtly shifted her lightsaber up and away from his chest, having already known what she would do if pushed this far. Still, the horror of what she could have done was still very evident in Aayla's mind, if the way she seemed to jump away from Naruto and suddenly tremble all over was any indication, even leaving her lightsaber in his hand.

"Hm, it seems you Jedi _do_ possess the instincts to survive after all..." said Naruto as he deactivated the lightsaber and made to leave, having no intention of returning the weapon to its master.

"My lightsaber, give it back..." there was no longer any bite in Aayla's tone, in fact she sounded almost afraid of any sort of hostility now.

"A hunter must have his trophies. I want it, so I take it. If you want it, come and take it from me." Naruto said without breaking his stride, dark robes fluttering ever so slightly as he walked around the nearest corner in search of something to do with his time.

Aayla just continued to stand there, feeling more drained now than she had in a long time, all the while thinking over what just happened. She was a Jedi, she did not strike first, she did not give into her emotions, and yet that was what she had just done. She tried to kill someone in cold blood, she gave into fear and anger, and that frightened her even more. What was going on with her? Why was she feeling this way? Why was being around this Sith drawing forth so many things she had spent years burying in meditation and discipline?

* * *

One week later, Naruto was surprisingly brought to the Jedi Council Chambers, and even more so when he found out why.

"You want me to help plan the invasion of a planet? Hm, color me impressed, I didn't think the Jedi would take such an aggressive approach." Naruto laughed as he stood before the majority of the Jedi council, amusement dancing in his mismatched eyes when some of the more strict Jedi seemed to stiffen under the implications of his statement.

"Yes, a good show of faith, this will be." Yoda spoke from his own chair, pointing at Naruto with his walking stick.

"Myself, Master Kenobi, and Knight Skywalker will also be a part of the planning stages, as we will be partaking in the _liberation_ of Ryloth." Mace spoke, emphasizing that this was not an invasion but a liberation.

"Invasion, liberation, it all really depends on your point of view. But I suppose this will finally get me out of this dusty old temple of yours. I swear, just being here for so long makes me miss the fighting pits we had set up on Korriban. Fighting to the cheers of a crowd, butchering my fellow Sith and the odd captured Jedi for entertainment. Ah, those were the days..." it did not go unnoticed to Naruto how uncomfortable he was making the Jedi around him, which was part of the reason he was doing it to begin with.

"Yes, well, I'm sure you'll find this equally entertaining." Obi-wan stated, coughing slightly into his hand as he did so.

"I doubt it, fighting droids isn't nearly as much fun or challenging. Now, I'll leave you all to do whatever it is you do while I'm not here." Naruto turned and made his way out the door, "It seems things won't be boring for long. So I need to prepare."

As he exited the Council chamber, however, he stopped and looked out the window, but not at the city sprawled before him, his gaze was far off and clouded with memory.

Ryloth...home of the Twi'lek race...that took him back...and it was currently being subjugated?

"...Eleena..." he sighed. His hands clenched into trembling fists. Rage roaring in his heart, blotting out all else. He slammed a first into the wall, cratering it and spiderweb cracks spread from the impact point.

Droids may present no challenge, but that made things just fine by him in this case! An image of that aristocratic old man flashed behind his eyes...Dooku. He and those tin soldiers of his would pay for this!

(Three Weeks Later: Ryloth)

Naruto had learned one fundamental truth since he began planning for the liberation of Ryloth: the Jedi of this age were not the same warriors they were from his time. The plan they came up with was so full of holes that you could fly a capital ship right through it countless times and ways, and that was even after Naruto convinced them to change several fundamental parts of it.

Three Venator class Star Destroyers against one droid command ship and several support ships was pure suicide, not to mention the enemy could call in reinforcements at any time. Naruto managed to convince them to bring in six Venators, with two jumping in from the front and two on either side of the command ships, this way they wouldn't give the enemy a single front to focus on. Skywalker and his padawan would handle the space battle, the Jedi Knight was more at home up there than on the ground. Obi-wan would handle the smaller villages, taking out the anti air emplacements as they made their way to the planets capital. Mace Windu was the one officially in charge of this liberation/invasion, meanwhile Naruto was to assist in all three parts of the attack as best he could.

That's why Naruto currently found himself making modifications to his own spacecraft, which the Republic had so graciously returned to him, and was mostly rewiring all the primary systems to the main console. It was slow work, as Naruto had never been much of a mechanic, but he had time.

"You'll fry your systems if you run so much power through them." the voice of Skywalker was actually a surprise to the Sith, he didn't expect the Jedi Knight to willingly come down to see him.

"Hm, I've never been one for technology. More combatant than mechanic..." Naruto spun his command chair around and faced Anakin, inputting in a few commands as he did so.

"You want some help?"

"Last I checked, you weren't particularly fond of being in my presence, what change?"

"Nothing actually, I would still rather space you out the airlock than work with you. However, since we do have to work together, I'd much rather not lose the advantage you represent just because you don't know how to rewire your own ship." Naruto just sat there listening to Anakin, showing no clear signs of anger at the Jedi's words, before he suddenly let out a bellow of a laugh.

"Ha! A Jedi willing to work with a Sith so he doesn't lose the advantage in a battle!" Naruto laughed, getting up from his chair, "I welcome your assistance then."

"Good, now hand me that plasma cutter, and let the master teach you a few things."


	8. Chapter 8

**AUTHOR NOTE: Just a quick little chapter to add some extra to this story before the battle starts.**

 **Studied up on pre-Disney cannon (the REAL stuff back when George Lucas was running things) with and at the behest of fellow author "Axccel". Turns out, Dark Side Force adepts of any prior era are radically more powerful than those of the Galactic Republic's time. Even the weaklings of the Brotherhood of Darkness would be terrifying compared to the Jedi and Sith of later. Those of The Great Galactic War's time were practically godlike. Hell, just a few centuries prior to that war, stars went supernova just by PROXIMITY to Sith and Jedi fighting on Ossus. The planet Kesh was devastated by simply a few Sith and a few Jedi duking it out on the surface. The guys of the Sith Wars were all terrifyingly powerful.**

 **And Naruto's a full-fledged Darth from the KOTOR era and was RAISED as a Sith! Tell me all that put together wouldn't mean he's brutally powerful!**

 **ALSO...AS MUCH AS I WANT TO CONTINUE THIS, WHENEVER I TRIED, I KEPT SEEING THIS STORY EVENTUALLY TYING INTO THE DAMN DISNEY BULLSHIT, ESPECIALLY WITH HOW THEY KEEP RESETTING THE SERIES SO IT FITS THEIR VERSION OF STAR WARS RATHER THAN LUCAS'!** **MAKES STAYING INSPIRED HARD. BUT NOT QUITTING IT! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!**

* * *

 **Book One: The Return**

 **Chapter 8: Before the Storm**

After the unlikely duo of Jedi and Sith got Naruto's fighter up to what Skywalker deemed optimal, the pair made their way to the command bridge for a briefing on how their operations would go.

All in all, the Darth found it absurd. "The enemy won't follow any plans crafted by the ones they're fighting against, after all. Just improvise and slaughter them all to the last, I say."

"How typical of a Sith; unnecessarily brutal and wants as much conflict as possible." Anakin glared out of the corner of his eye.

Naruto shrugged, taking the words in stride, "Like my master Malgus used to say, "I fight because that is what I was made to do. Want is not the point. I serve the Force. The Force is conflict. The Jedi understand the Force only partially. Some of them are even powerful in its use. But they fail to comprehend the fundamental nature of the Force, that it is conflict. That a light side and a dark side exist is proof of this."...I just wish I was fighting enemies that could actually bleed."

As he spoke, he unclipped his primary weapon from his belt and spun it casually between his fingers. The lightsaber had a solid, heavy-duty hilt that favored maximum strength. The weapon featured a solid casing, thick, ridged handgrip, a high-output diatium power cell, a dual-phase focusing crystal, forward mounted adjustment knobs, and a beveled emitter shroud, as well as a "throttle-style" activator. However, the grip was considerably thicker and longer than most other lightsabers. That said, Naruto didn't care how the weapon actually looked, he just wanted practical functionality.

Seeing it, Anakin snorted, that weapon was inelegant to the point of being ungainly. Yet still...as he looked at it, it unsettled him for some reason. "Crude excuse of a lightsaber you've got there."

Naruto shrugged, "Saw it in a Force Vision. The Sith who topples the Jedi Order uses this. Big guy, black armor, masked helmet. Based off the one they used."

"And you think you're that Sith?" Anakin snapped at this unwanted company.

Again, Naruto shrugged, "That's actually up to the Force. If it is me, great; if the Force decides otherwise, oh well, nothing I can do about that."

"You do realize you've practically deified the Force, right?" Anakin pointed out, disgust creeping into his voice, considering who he was speaking to.

"And what's wrong with that? The Force is the reason the Jedi AND Sith have their power, after all. Without the Force, both orders are nothing. Therefore, because of that fact, service to the Force is the correct path for sides, is it not?" Naruto countered smoothly.

Anakin blinked. Sheesh...! That sounded just like something Qui-Gon Jinn would say! As soon as that thought crossed Anakin's mind, a ripple of anger at the idea of the man who Anakin admired and owed his freedom to having anything in common with this Sith scumbag welled up within him.

A ripple Naruto noticed. It made him grin. A chink in the armor, huh? He'd need to wear down that spot and see just how long it took Skywalker to snap, then. That would be fun, if nothing else.

"Instead, the Jedi have stopped listening to the Force and have made themselves devolve to tools of politics. They serve at the whim of the Supreme Chancellor, not the Force. They've allowed themselves to become glorified diplomats and negotiators, now warriors and generals. And the modern Sith are no better, choosing to devote themselves to obtaining and maintaining political power rather than devoting themselves solely to the dark side, having merely become Jedi-obsessed weaklings...and yes, the irony of my saying that isn't lost on me, but keep in mind that I'm from another time period before this absurd "Rule of Two" existed. The Sith Empire of my time was always looking for ways to dive deeper into the Force."

Anakin's hand twitched for his lightsaber, but before he could make up his mind on what to do, he realized they had reached their destination. Stepping into the command center of the ship, they were greeted by Askoha and Admiral Wullf Yularen, a by-the-book officer who commanded the Jedi Cruiser "Resolute" in the Republic's service. Added onto that were a pair of communication holograms depicting Obi-Wan and Mace Windu, the later of which frowned at the sight of the Darth, much to Naruto's amusement.

Seemed _someone_ was still testy over their little spar back at the Jedi temple and exposing he used the Dark Side in front of a courtyard full of Jedi younglings. HA! The blond loved it! And he would admit, that "Vaapad" variation of Form VII, Juyo, DID interest him, still.

"Good; we're all here. Now—" Obi-wan said, only to be cut off.

"Cut to the chase. What are we up against?" Naruto rolled his shoulders, "If you're worried about ground forces, I at least know the verbal half of the Twi'lek language, and can understand the signals of the body language the lekku are used for. But gotta get to the surface and make contact with the Twi'lek first."

Obi-wan and Mace's holograms nodded. "Good. That's going to be useful once our troops land. But, as the Sith said, we still need to get through the blockade around Ryloth." Windu said before a hologram of the planet surrounded by ships appeared.

"That?" Naruto snorted as he tried not to laugh, "Oh please! I've seen far worse, like when the Sith forces laid siege on Corellia. This excuse of a blockade is a joke."

Everyone turned to him. "Confidant you can help us get through, are you?" Obi-wan asked.

"I can do it, but flying's for droids if you ask me...Never was too much of a space battle guy...liked a more up close and personal killing. Give me melee combat any day."

Obi-wan rose his brows at that before rubbing his eyes, muttering something about space trenches.

"Do you have any possible insight? Tatices that might be employed by the Sith on what orders they could relay to the Separatists?" Askoha asked, turning to the blond.

"I'm from an era where the Sith were openly warriors, any of the modern ones you're use to are from an era where the Sith are more about scheming from behind the scenes to manipulate events while using others to do so." Naruto pointed out. "Not to say I'm bad at that either, but just that I much rather disembowel personally than misdirect from the background. Besides...doubt you Jedi would ever willingly listen to me."

"True." Obi-wan confessed. "So with the Separatists in control of the planet, odds are when we get down there, we'll have to deal with hostages."

"If the hostages are a factor, remove them." Naruto said simply, completely straight faced.

"We will attempt to do so, but it will be difficult to launch a rescue of that many."

"Rescue?!" Naruto balked, "Hell no! I mean if we can't fight the way we need to because of the hostages, I say we go with the pragmatic approach."

The Jedi all stared, horrified by realization.

"You're talking mass murder! Genocide even!" Obi-wan objected.

At the moral posturing, Naruto scowled. "And I suppose you rather the alternative and let this Separatist faction win? Because if they do, the Twi'lek are dead anyways, so do we take this world or are you going to preach? I swear, you Jedi...utterly spineless! You cling too much to your unsustainable delusions of storybook notions about decency and fairness and wanting a clean, neat, honorable conflict without slaughter to have the stomach to do whatever's necessary for a real war! You're soft!"

At that, a blue lightsaber's blade was ignited and hovered ominously close to his throat. Naruto met the glares of Windu, Kenobi, and Skywalker with apathy. "You know, I was trained as both a Sith Juggernaut and Sith Marauder. Fearing pain or death was beaten out of me a long time ago...trained specifically for war, know and accept that I'll more than likely die in battle, but I'm meant to take as many of the enemy with me as possible. It's my purpose. So having weapons aimed at me is just a typical thing. Pointless to expect me to change my mind just because I have a chance of my head being cut off."

"Wait!" Ahsoka called, drawing attention to herself as she turned to Naruto, "Look, Strakh...I know this goes against the way that you do things, but...well...with how well the natives know their own world, wouldn't it be better if they were able to help us fight? I mean...how much use is a dead body compared to those who can help give us an advantage with how well they know the terrain?"

Naruto frowned. All in all, he saw the point she was making. One didn't survive dealings with Sith or being in wars by just sheer brute force, you couldn't afford to be stupid or make incautious mistakes like preemptively removing what could aid you later, "Hmmmm...true, "Never underestimate the usefulness of others.". Old Sith lesson..." he mused. Then tsked, "Fine...I'll do it your way this once, but don't blame me when every death in these battles is on your heads for it because you can't accept the reality that you can't save everyone in a warzone. But for the record, you Jedi need to keep something in mind: your Order hasn't seen the nature of war in a thousand years, but for me, it was pretty much yesterday. The Jedi have forgotten what war is like; but I haven't, and I never will."

With that, the blond spun on his heel and walked out, aiming to find the hanger and spend some time on his ship, away from the philosophy-spouting bleeding hearts that were the Jedi.

"Sith brutality...trusting him was a mistake." Anakin frowned.

Ahsoka winced.

"Harsh, but reality often is...he knows what war is like." Admiral Wullf pointed out. He didn't like agreeing with such a brutal individual, but as a military officer, he understood what the young man was saying and why he was saying it...focusing on the big picture.

* * *

Marching back to his ship, the Dark Side radiating off of him in his sheer frustration, making the clones give the time displaced Sith a wide breadth, Naruto scowled. "Fools...blind fools, the entire damn Order of them!" he growled. Oh, if he didn't need those idiots to flush out the current objects of his vengeance...! And yet, having to put up with Jedi without wanting to kill them was an utterly grueling hell all it's own! Especially when they preached morals during kill-or-be-killed situations like a war!

And he thought his time under his master was torture! At least he knew the reason for that was to become as powerful as he possibly could!

If you weren't sleeping, you were training.

If you weren't eating, you were training.

If you weren't dead, you were training.

At least the one time his old Master had allowed him a break from things was when Naruto had meditated on his lightsaber's crystal. Come to think of it...Naruto had spent days—even months—at a time, sustained by the Force and forming a link so strong that the Sith and the crystal responded instantly to one another with one mind. Their link was so deep that the blade, regardless of hilt type, felt weightless in Naruto's hands, and the crystal would anticipate, accentuate **,** and extenuate Naruto's movements as he made them.

And that was just the tip of things.

Recalling how channeling his emotions and experiences into the crystal had not only strengthened it, but had been the closest thing to "therapeutic" he ever did, he made his way into his ship and sat down. Reaching out with the Force, Naruto systematically deconstructed his lightsaber; taking the black metallic casing from around the saber's traditional internal components, then carefully having those levitate away from the red crystal to orbit him. As it hovered in front of his face, the Darth poured his frustrations into the crystal, it starting to glow in response, bathing everything around it in a soft, vivid red light that made everything it touched appear stained with blood.

His sheer hate for the Sith Order that had betrayed and attempted to kill him...

...the confusion of finding out he had been thrust a thousand years through time and into an era where the Sith Empire was little more than dust and ashes with no explanation as to why or how...

...his outrage over learning his trip through time meant he was unable to avenge himself against Malgus and the others who turned on him, having to merely settle for the current generation of those who called themselves Sith...

...the stifling confinement in the Jedi Temple...

...the disgust for the Jedi's moral grandstanding...

...his starvation for the blood of those who stood in his way; a thirst no droid could slake, a hunger which metal, wire, and circuits could never appease...

...and of course, his feelings on the current situation befalling both Ryloth and those on it, given his past experience with a certain Twi'lek Malgus had been fond of...

As all of these emotions swirling around within him like a storm flowed into the crimson gem, the tension went with it, allowing him the razor sharp clarity that had permitted his victory in so many conflicts, and the singular, ruthless focus to destroy all that stood between him and his ability to survive and triumph in the end, at any and all costs.

Naruto had the feeling he was going to need to do this constantly for as long as he was fighting alongside these Jedi...

His eyes snapping open, he reassembled his weapon and reconnected it to his belt as he sensed the familiar presence the Togruta Padawan as she barged into his ship.

"Let me guess: Master making a nuisance of himself to you again?" The blond said.

"No. I actually thought you were different. But what you planned to do to Ryloth's people..." she said, eyes narrowed in contempt as he stood up.

"I know...just it's all frustrating for me...confused. Don't like it..." the Sith confessed, sighed, looking at nothing in particular, "...Eleena Daru..."

"Huh?" Ahsoka wondered.

"Eleena Daru. She was a female Rutian Twi'lek. Few things are as graceful as a female Twi'lek in motion, given how you've worked with that Jedi Aayla, you know that. But that beautiful image doomed generations of young Twi'leks into servitude, as the wealthy and corrupt have taken to brandishing Twi'leks as badges of prestige. Eleena was no different...She was originally a slave in the slave pens on Geonosis, until she was saved by my master, Darth Malgus...she was good to me, so much so that I saw her as a foster mother..." Naruto grinned nostalgically. "...Called her "mom" once...oh man, Malgus was _**PISSED**_ at me that day...!" the blond snickered.

"Anyways, it started when she did me a service: made sure I got my biological mother's holocron...when I found out about my mother...the kind of person she was, the good deeds as well as the ill ones, how she and my father met and fell in love, my birth...everything about her end to end, even how she died...I had a nasty habit of not only blowing my instructors apart if they insulted her, but nearly leveled everything around me...nearly destroyed the Sith Academy more than once...couple of business and living sectors, too...wherever I was, everything around me was demolished or damaged, and people's lives were either ended or damn close...The Sith Emperor and Dark Council at the time actually deemed me _too volatile_ to be permitted to continue my training to be a Sith...which was exactly the kind of dangerous individual that Malgus _wanted_ in an apprentice..." he chuckled.

"So you're willing to replay how this Eleena person was like a mother to you by slaughtering her people?!" The young Togruta was appalled. So this was a Sith?! Moreover, this was what the Sith of Grand Master Satele Shan's era had been like?! It was disgusting!

"I...!" Naruto started to say, then stopped and sighed, "...I...I don't know...I was trained to be that way, especially in war. Brutality and ruthlessness is something that's become my nature, but..." he shook his head.

"You don't want any of the Twi'leks to die since the race reminds you of her...?" Ahsoka's words were half inquiry, half statement of realization.

"No, I don't..." Naruto confessed. "Truth is, I've always been super emotional, even by Sith standards. Was taught to embrace that, since the more and stronger of an emotion a Sith feels, the more power they release. We Sith are taught to embrace our passions, so our being emotional to the extreme is common...sometimes, since the Sith are highly emotional to an extreme extent, we're ruled primarily by that rather than logic. And the thing is, hate can't be reasoned with. Neither can love. They're almost identical emotions. They both set a similar kind of fire in a person's head that blots out everything else, so unless we focus on negative emotions, we have problems with sentiment and our own emotions, the things we draw on to fuel the Dark side, drag us into the Light you Jedi revere so much...was where the Sith practice of killing off your own loved ones came from. So try and guess what this battle is doing to me as far as how I actually feel...if Jedi are even capable of emotion at all, much less comprehending them!"

"Hey!" She snapped, offended.

The user of the Dark Side chuckled, "Still...I find it funny Jedi acted like that...They utterly reject emotion. So how can they find choices made by cold, calculated logic appalling? Logically, if we disregard hostages and focus on pushing this droid army from Ryloth, there will indeed be casualties, but not so many as to warrant extinction, and they can rebuild."

Ahsoka shivered. "That's just evil..."

Naruto shrugged, smirking now, "That's one of the nasty truths about your Order's code. It's a double-standard to reject emotion yet say that you care about others, since by its nature, caring requires emotion."

The Padawan backed away, shaking. The horrible thing was...she could see his point. It was something she constantly struggled with. It just didn't make sense, the Jedi wanted you apathetic yet have you care for others at the same time. How was that even doable?

Naruto's smirk evolved into an icy smile upon seeing her face. "Ah...you get my point, eh? Look at it like this: how much...good...could the Jedi do, but let the Republic and it's politics tie their hands? They can actually go make a much bigger difference, but are too complacent and indolent to commit themselves to the galaxy as a whole. They've turned the Force into nothing but a tool to be used to expand and maintain the Republic's hold over the galaxy."

Ahsoka gulped, feeling herself shake as that single golden eye of his gleamed as he questioned her.

"So...if it came down to it and you, would you help the Jedi demolish the plans of the Sith, or turn on us to help the Sith, then?" she asked, despite for a shift in topic.

That question caught him off guard for a second. On one hand, he was taught to defeat the Jedi so the Sith could claim power; on the other was the fact that the Sith kill whoever betray them and he was betrayed by the Sith as an Order.

It was actually relieving for the both of them when they were called to get ready for launch, giving Ahsoka an excuse to run from the ship, ribbing her arms to rid them of the goosebumps the chill speaking with him had given her, while Naruto made his way to the cockpit and scowled as he maneuvered his Fury-class interceptor into position next to Ahsoka's own Jedi fighter and a squad of pilots. Even after getting more ships on their side, not to mention a better plan, the Sith still felt like too much was left up to chance. It also didn't help that Obi-wan and Mace wouldn't be joining the fight until after Anakin's forces managed to bring down the blockade. With an uninterested grunt, Naruto punched in a few commands on the console Anakin managed to put together, extending the strike-foils on his ship and preparing all weapons for combat.

Oh, how he missed his old crew, they could make any engagement short and simple.

Still, while he may not be the best pilot in the world, he had the Force on his side and a shit ton of heavy weapons to blast his enemies with.

Enemies...Naruto fought a snort. That was another thing that bothered him...theses weren't really enemies, just droids. Droids were boring! They were programmed to fire at weak points in armor or for critical targets on their targets' body and had no ability to improvise or adapt. They could only simulate emotion, so they couldn't really feel fear. And they could't feel pain when you hurt them! No Sith could really enjoy, or show off their brutality, fighting droids! The thought almost put him to sleep out of sheer boredom!

"Strakh. You ready for this?" the young Togruta in the ship next to his asked over the com system, apparently over her unease enough to focus on the task at hand.

"Yeah, just annoyed...Droids bore me as opponents, and it doesn't help that these ones are apparently so stupid to begin with." Was the blond's dry response.

Ahsoka laughed, "I hear you. Just don't throw your back out, old man." she said, poking fun at how he had come to the current era from a thousand years ago.

Naruto actually cracked a grin at that. Padawan had some sass to her. He liked that. "In that case, you better not wet your diapers, junior!" he heckled back before shutting his comm off. "Shame she's a Jedi..." he admitted to himself with a chuckle. Naruto took a deep breath. Space combat...Naruto wasn't as bad as someone like Obi-wan (from what Naruto heard, the guy could barely fly straight without an astromech to babysit him!), but he also wasn't as skilled as he'd heard Anakin was. Pretty much, Naruto was able to get by in a fight, but don't ask him to play chicken with a capital ship all on his own.

"Well...time to get this show on the road. Man, get so much more into things when my enemies can actually bleed..." he muttered, after hearing the sirens go off, Naruto activated his ship's thrusts and the ship began to hover in the air as he saw Ahsoka and the clones do likewise as the hanger doors opened and Naruto was the first to fly out, and then he activated his ship's cloaking shield as he flew through space.

"Time to blow stuff up."


End file.
